Finally a good use for Edwards.
Posted on 06/09/2007 9:36:59 AM PDT by BenLurkin
The Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base has a long history of leading the cutting edge of aeronautical technology.
With the airborne laser program, the center is leading the way in yet another area of futuristic weaponry, this time the use of directed energy, more commonly known as lasers.
"Directed energy is transformative. It changes the way we fight wars," said Michael Rinn, deputy program manager for the airborne laser for The Boeing Co.
The airborne laser is seen as a pathfinder for directed energy programs, working through the development issues of the new technology that then may be applied to other platforms in different sizes and energy levels.
The airborne laser system is designed to use a high-energy laser mounted in a highly modified 747 aircraft to destroy a ballistic missile while it is still in the boost phase, shortly after launch.
A high-energy chemical laser, fired through a rotating turret on the airplane's nose, is used to puncture a hole in the missile's pressurized fuel tank, causing it to rupture. In this way, the laser uses the missile's own fuel and pressure to bring it down.
By targeting the early boost phase of the missile, any debris created will fall back on the launch area, an important point when considering chemical or other such warheads.
The high-energy laser used to destroy the ballistic missile targets is in the megawatt class, Rinn said. The only technology capable of such power at this time is a chemical laser, he said.
That laser is called a chemical oxygen iodine laser, or COIL. It is created by mixing chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide, salts and lye in the right proportions and conditions to create a high-energy beam of light.
(Excerpt) Read more at avpress.com ...
I recall reading something on this awhile back, and my thoughts were and still are: How applicable is this really? It seems like such a small window of time for the laser to hit the missile, so planes with this technology would have to perpetually be in the air.
Great pics.
Thanks!
Man,I hope so.
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