MDA’s New Airborne Laser Video
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has released a video that shows the Airborne Laser (ABL) successfully firing at a target missile. View the video at the ABL web page.
“This test demonstrated the full functionality of the ABL system to successfully acquire, track, and engage a boosting target,” according to the MDA. “Test instrumentation aboard the MARTI collected data to evaluate ABL laser system performance. This test engagement was not intended to lethally destroy the missile.”
Last summer, defense contractor Boeing and the MDA announced the success of the ABL’s first in-flight test. The ABL tracked and hit a missile target launched from San Nicolas Island off the California coast. The ABL was mounted to Boeing’s modified 747, which took off from Edwards Air Force Base, and its infrared sensors found the target.
Tags: ABL, Airborne Laser, Barack Obama, Boeing, Missile Defense Agency