The Airborne Laser Test Bed, officially the YAL-1A, was part of a 15-year, multi-billion dollar research program that ultimately shot down a surface-launched missile.
It has now been retired to the Air Force’s Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group near Tucson, Arizona — more commonly known as “the boneyard:” Read more
The AT-6C, a modified version of the T-6 currently used to train US Air Force and Navy pilots, has reportedly been used to deliver LGBs out of Tucson, Arizona. The Air Force Reserve Command Test Center has been testing the AT-6C, which is explicitly not an in-development weapons acquisition program.
Though light attack is not an Air Force procurement program, AATC’s task is to report its findings to senior leaders early next year to help refine requirements…
As if to prove the point, the aircraft has a civilian N-number, rather than a military designation:
There aren’t too many civilian aircraft in the world equipped to Read more
Similar to the US Air Force’s Airborne Laser, the US Navy recently test-fired a laser from the deck of one of its test ships, the former USS Paul Foster.
The laser, built by Northrop Grumman, successfully targeted a small boat on the open ocean with a classified range described as “miles, not yards.”
If you’re used to Star Wars and Star Trek, the video of the laser shot may be a little disappointing. It appears the laser starts a small fire on one of the outboard motors.
The Air Force Times notes that the Air Force approval of vision-correcting laser eye surgery has allowed people who would otherwise have medically unqualified to become pilots.
Early on, the Air Force offered photorefractive keratectomy vision correction to a limited number of aviators. With this procedure, the surgeon uses a laser to remove skin cells from the surface of the eye before correcting the patient’s vision.
Over time, the program was extended to more airmen Read more
FoxNews recently reported on the US Navy’s attempts to develop laser-based weapons that might be used for a variety of purposes, including ship and anti-aircraft defense.
Lasers have come a long way in the military already. The US Air Force flys a 747 with a laser in the nose (the “Airborne Laser,” or ABL) that can shoot down ballistic missiles; it doesn’t take much to imagine what else that laser could be pointed at or used for. A laser-equipped C-130 has engaged ground targets to mixed success, and Boeing reportedly used lasers to down small UAVs.
There is still a long way to go, though. According to the article, the development team is attempting to create a full-size prototype by 2018.
Just one question: Will the Navy create it in time to put these laser weapons on the USS Enterprise?
The Air Force announced that the YAL-1, or Airborne Laser, had successfully intercepted a representative ballistic missile in the boost phase, proving the concept of an aircraft based, directed energy anti-ballistic missile weapon system. Pictures and video are available at the official site of the Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency.
Notwithstanding the historic strategic bombers, the YAL-1, which is a highly modified Boeing 747-400, is the largest aircraft to ever demonstrate an offensive “air to air” capability and is the only one to use directed energy to achieve a kinetic purpose.
Fighter pilot perspective: If it can bring down a missile at range like that, imagine what it could do to bombers, fighters, UAVs, or even a variety of select ground targets…