A modified Boeing 747-400F jumbo jet aircraft on Tuesday completed its first flight test since being fully equipped with an experimental missile defense laser, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency announced (see GSN, Dec. 12, 2008).
In an upcoming series of tests, the Airborne Laser aircraft is expected to pick up, monitor, target and fire on increasingly challenging targets. In a final test planned for later this year, the aircraft would attempt to destroy a mock enemy ballistic missile in its boost phase (U.S. Missile Defense Agency release, April 24).
"With ABL's return to flight, we are on the verge of fully demonstrating the unprecedented speed, mobility, precision and lethality that ABL could provide to America's warfighters," Michael Rinn, Airborne Laser program director at defense contractor Boeing, said in a statement.
By using the aircraft to destroying an enemy missile early in flight, the United States could avoid taking unnecessary shots with other missile defense systems, according to Boeing. The Airborne Laser is one of the missile defense programs facing budget cuts in the fiscal 2010 Defense Department budget (see GSN, April 6; Boeing release, April 24).