Posted on 10/13/2006 11:00:51 AM PDT by Righty_McRight
ST. LOUIS, Oct. 13, 2006 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has begun flight testing for the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) program and has generated "first light" of ATL's high-energy chemical laser in ground tests, achieving two key milestones in the laser gunship development effort.
During the "low-power" flight tests, which began Oct. 10 and conclude this fall, the ATL ACTD system will find and track ground targets at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. A low-power, solid-state laser will serve as a surrogate for ATL's high-power chemical laser.
To prepare for the tests, the ATL aircraft, a C-130H from the U.S. Air Force 46th Test Wing, was outfitted with flight demonstration hardware at Crestview Aerospace Corp. in Crestview, Fla. The hardware includes the beam director and optical control bench, which will direct the laser beam to its target; weapon system consoles, which will display high-resolution imagery and enable the tracking of targets; and sensors.
Boeing fired the high-energy chemical laser for the first time in ground tests on Sept. 21 in Albuquerque, N.M. -- an achievement known as "first light." Ground tests of the laser will conclude this fall. By 2007, Boeing will install the device on the aircraft and fire it in-flight at mission-representative ground targets to demonstrate the military utility of high energy-lasers. The test team will fire the laser through a rotating turret that extends through an existing 50-inch-diameter hole in the aircraft's belly.
"ATL will transform the battlefield by giving the warfighter a speed-of-light, precision engagement capability that will reduce collateral damage dramatically," said Pat Shanahan, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems. "The start of flight and laser testing shows that Boeing is making solid progress toward making this revolutionary capability a reality."
Boeing is developing ATL for the U.S. Department of Defense through an ACTD program.
ATL will destroy, damage or disable targets with little to no collateral damage, supporting missions on the battlefield and in urban operations. ATL will produce scaleable effects, meaning the weapon operator will be able to select the degree and nature of the damage done to a target by choosing a specific aimpoint and laser shot duration. For example, targeting the fuel tank of a vehicle could result in total destruction of the vehicle, while targeting a tire might result in the vehicle stopping without injury to the driver.
Boeing's Advanced Tactical Laser industry team includes L-3 Communications/Brashear, which made the laser turret, and HYTEC, Inc., which made various structural elements of the weapon system.
Thanks for posting this.
"Puff the Magic Dragon" - 21st Century style.
The race is on. If memory serves me correctly the ABL was not supposed to be on line until 2008. Looks like that date will be moved up dramatically and don't be surprised if the gov't contracts for three or four of these babies. It appears that this will evolve into an offensive weapon very quickly. The application seems obvious. It isn't a stretch of the imagination to see Kim's palace just disappear from the face of the planet or perhaps see Iran's parliament ceasing to exist with Ahmanutjob inside.
Please call it the Death Star.
The Democrats in Congress are trying to kill anything to do with lasers and the military. This 2006 election is critical to the future of our country.
Could this system be adapted to passenger vehicles?
If so I would like one for my Taurus. It would be useful on the freeway at times.
Forget cars, can it be adopted to Shark's heads?
No tactical lasers in the carpool lane.
Rush hour will never be the same ... betcha wont want to cut off the Duece rolling down the freeway at 45 any more huh?
There was Jimmy haning out the pilot's cockpit window of the Goonie Bird with a big SEG and giving the "OK" sign!
He was a real American Hero unlike some Mass Senators with the initial K who were traitors and murderers!
anuary 15, 2006 There was once a time when a concrete wall on the battlefield meant that a soldier was both safe from bullets and invisible to the enemy. Thanks to the coming XM25 Advanced Airburst Weapon System and DARPA’s latest invention, the “Radar Scope”, the concrete wall has now been rendered useless on both counts. The new "Radar Scope" offers warfighters the very same x-ray vision with which SuperMan captivated a generation of youngsters – it can see through walls. The Radar Scope is a light-weight, low-cost, through-wall personnel detector that uses stepped-frequency radar to detect subtle changes in Doppler signature of the returned signal. Put simply, it is a motion detector that can see through walls.
Just use the laser to engage your target through the wall of the building, leaving a dead target and only a smoking hole in the wall of the building.
Definitely Extra Crispy!
Yeah Baby ... get yer hot stuff here!!!!
That's curious, besides the ole "so Bush won't look good" motivation, why else are they fighting it? Do you have any links? I'd love to see why they would oppose this!
The ultimate in airborne lasers.
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