Modified 747 Has Completed Its Mission

The Air Force said Tuesday that the Airborne Laser Test Bed (ALTB) has completed the key MDA Knowledge Points, and has transitioned into long-term storage at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, AZ. The ALTB demonstrated the viability of a directed energy weapon for missile defense by tracking and destroying a boosting, representative foreign ballistic missile in flight.

The MDA is continuing efforts to develop highly efficient electric lasers in support of missile defense to significantly reduce the complexity and cost of future directed energy weapons.

The program began in 1996, but did not actually fire a laser from an airplane in flight at a target until 2007. During its final test in 2010, the objective of the mission was for the ALTB to destroy a liquid-fuel, short-range ballistic missile during its boost phase. During the mission the Boeing 747 flying laser laboratory detected and tracked the target. However, the experiment terminated early when corrupted beam control software steered the high energy laser slightly off center.

The program was never intended to be operationally deployed. The Pentagon said that a laser that could effectively destroy a boosting missile would have to be much larger than the 747 could carry. It would also have a limited range and be prohibitively expensive. Funding for the program was cut in 2010, and it was officially cancelled in December of last year.

FMI: www.af.mil