Boeing yal-1

It carried two solid state lasers and a megawatt-class oxygen iodine directed energy weapon system COIL. On 3 Februaryit destroyed a Terrier Black Brant two-stage sounding rocket boeing yal-1 the boost phase as it was launched from San Nicolas Island, off the coast of Southern California, boeing yal-1. The was a major development of the series.

Exactly 20 years ago today, a modified Boeing F took its first flight. The only difference? The US military started the airborne laser program ABL in , but an experimental prototype was already tested more than a decade ago. However, the project was not pursued any further despite the testbed providing impressive results. Interest in the program reignited when the Soviet Union began developing advanced Scud missiles during the Cold War. Unlike most other US defense contracts, several companies, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, were involved in this deal. Before working on the real thing, the Air Force performed laser tests on a retired Air India Boeing in

Boeing yal-1

An airborne laser ABL is a laser system operated from a flying platform, as in the:. Of note is that the ALL demonstrated one of the early uses of deformable mirror technology. To compensate for various atmospheric aberrations arising from turbulence and absorption of energy from the beam itself, it was necessary to modify the wavefront of the beam after it emerged from the laser resonator in order to ensure it would arrive at the target as a tightly focused spot. The ABL was mounted on a modified Boeing See Boeing YAL-1 for further discussion. The original ALL, being a relatively long wavelength, sub-megawatt laser, killed its targets via two mechanisms. One was by direct illumination and heating of the guidance sensor of an air-to-air missile, which defeated its tracking system. The other was by heating a cruise missile or similar vehicle to the extent that the fuel tank exploded and destroyed the vehicle. Tracking used a conical scanning technique, which employed the beam of the boresighted high-energy laser to acquire and track the target vehicle via its illuminated infrared return. The newer ABL had enough energy when fired to vaporize the metal of the missile that it was currently targeting. It's like taking a magnifying glass and burning a hole through a piece of paper, but we do it through metal," said Dr. Keith Truesdell, Phillips Lab chief of the applied laser technology branch.

Early History of Airborne Lasers 2.

It was designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in the boost phase of their flight, providing a defensive capability against missile threats. The laser system used a chemical oxygen iodine laser COIL to emit a high-energy light beam. This laser was powerful enough to track and destroy ballistic missiles from a distance while still in their boost phase. The primary objective of the YAL-1 Airborne Laser program was to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of using directed energy weapons to intercept and destroy enemy missiles. The boost phase interception was considered advantageous because it allowed for the destruction of missiles early in their trajectory, reducing the potential damage they could cause.

The very idea of hitting a hostile ballistic missile with a laser beam produced by an airborne emitter sounds like science fiction. But such tests involving a Jumbo Jet equipped with a high-energy laser utilizing chemical reaction were indeed conducted some fifteen years ago. The Pentagon first conducted experiments involving airborne laser weapons under the Airborne Laser Lab ALL program, which lasted from the mids to the mids. While the previous program had used derivatives of Boeing family, the ABL employed an even larger airframe: a Boeing The need for such a huge airframe stemmed from the requirements set by its weapon, the chemical oxygen iodine laser COIL , utilizing a mixture of chemicals, primarily iodine and gaseous oxygen. Although the emitter itself was located in a relatively compact nose turret, the whole system was quite bulky, comprising six interconnected modules, weighing some 6, lb each. It also needed a great amount of chemicals to feed the reaction.

Boeing yal-1

It was designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in the boost phase of their flight, providing a defensive capability against missile threats. The laser system used a chemical oxygen iodine laser COIL to emit a high-energy light beam. This laser was powerful enough to track and destroy ballistic missiles from a distance while still in their boost phase.

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By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. In other projects. The main laser , located in a turret on the aircraft nose, could be fired for 3 to 5 seconds, causing the missile to break up in flight near the launch area. Revival and Experimentation 2. It had a cruise speed of 0. Air Force The was a major development of the series. It has the feature of being the most compact product of the series family. US tri-service Airborne Laser aircraft. Preliminary operational plans called for the ABL to be escorted by fighters and possibly electronic warfare aircraft. The target was an NCE Big Crow test aircraft that has been specially modified with a "signboard" target on its fuselage. It carried two solid state lasers and a megawatt-class oxygen iodine directed energy weapon system COIL. Operational costs of an airborne laser are quite high.

This weekend, Saturday, November 6 and Sunday November 7, , the Thunder and Lightning over Tucson Airshow at Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona will thrill aviation enthusiasts from around the world with a unique mix of aerial and static displays that can only be presented at one of the most unique military aviation installations on earth.

Archived from the original on January 11, This type of laser utilized a chemical reaction to produce a high-energy beam of light capable of destroying ballistic missiles. This military aviation article is a stub. A Mojave Scrapbook. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Hydrogen peroxide decays to produce oxygen, which in turn energizes iodine source. July 29, The Beam Control System of the Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser was a critical component responsible for precision steering and directing the high-energy laser beam toward its target. The high-energy laser beam interacted with the missile's surface, causing localized heating and structural damage. Toggle limited content width. Intelligence not Information. These algorithms adjusted the aimpoint of the laser beam in real time, ensuring that it remained aligned with the target despite changes in its movement. Article Talk.