ChemicalLaser
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US Air Force chief: Boeing laser "not operationally viable" as far as you know
Seeing a Boeing 747 destroy a liquid-fueled ballistic missile with a megawatt-class laser is undoubtedly one of the tech highlights of the year so far. Unfortunately, as impressive as the demonstration was, it's unlikely to be militarized in its current state. While the Air Force's chief of staff, General Norton Schwartz, called the demonstration "a magnificent technical achievement," he has no intention of introducing the fat tub of chemical goo into the theater of war. Solid state lasers are the future "coin of the realm," according to Schwartz, not Boeing's chemical laser which he claims, "does not represent something that is operationally viable." Of course, the chemical core of the laser was just a single component of the ALTB that managed to track, target, and destroy a moving projectile from an airborne platform. And while the technology might not be viable for broad deployment, that doesn't mean that it won't be fitted into a special forces AC-130 Gunship for covert operations until solid state lasers (currently limited to about 100kW) achieve megawatt status. Just saying.
Boeing's air-to-ground laser test a success, and we have the video to prove it
Fans of future wars, heads up! What might at first blush look like a poorly placed roman candle is actually proof positive that Boeing's Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) is ready to do some damage. Sure, when we heard last month that the company's tests at the White Sands Missile Range were a success, we responded the same way that we always do: "video or it didn't happen." But now that we've seen it in action, we have one more question: When will its big brother, the 747-mounted ABL, get its day in the limelight? We'll keep you posted. [Via The Register]
Boeing's airborne laser finally blows something up
It's been a long haul marked by funding cuts and some important but rather unexciting tests, but it looks like Boeing's much-ballyhooed airborne laser has now finally actually blown something up, real good. According to Boeing and the US Air Force, that happened over the White Sands Missile Range on August 30th, when an C-130H aircraft equipped with the Advanced Tactical Laser (or ATL) locked on to an unspecified ground target and fired the 12,000lb high-power chemical laser to make the target disappear from the face of the Earth. That successful test seems unlikely to change the laser's place in the Defense Department's arsenal, however, which has already been scaled back significantly from the earlier, more ambitious plans for a whole fleet of aircraft equipped with the weapon. [Via Slashdot]
