YAL-1 Airborne Laser flying over Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. (Photograph by USAF)Experts See Divergent Futures For Boeing's Two Flying Lasers -- Popular Mechanics
For years, the Pentagon's research budget has funded not one, but two planes armed with laser turrets. Although the Airborne Laser (ABL) and the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) have different missions, both projects are led by aviation and defense giant Boeing, and both consist of a chemical laser mounted on a large aircraft. Both projects also cleared major technical hurdles in June, with ABL successfully targeting a missile (pdf) in flight, and ATL firing its full-power laser at a ground target for the first time. And yet, the laser planes are on very different flight paths, as ABL weathers its harshest criticism yet, while its younger sibling slides quietly toward further testing. After a holiday weekend where North Korea's "intercontinental" ballistic missiles failed to reach Japan, never mind Hawaii, PM examines whether the ABL would ever be able to stop such attacks, and alternate futures for American battlefield lasers.
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My Comment: An excellent and easy to read summary from Popular Mechanics.
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