Non-Subscriber Extract
Boeing rolls out first Airborne Laser aircraft
- Article Tools
| 04 December 2006 |
The first YAL-1A Airborne Laser (ABL) aircraft was rolled out from Boeing's modification facility in Wichita, Kansas, on 27 October 2006.
The Airborne Laser team at Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, Wichita, has fully integrated the Lockheed Martin-designed beam-control/fire-control system inside the aircraft. A team that included a Boeing-Northrop Grumman contingent on temporary assignment from Edwards Air Force Base, California, installed floor reinforcements and laser-chemical tanks at the back of the modified Boeing 747-400 aircraft to prepare for installation of the high-energy Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL) in 2007.
Two illuminator lasers are used to accurately point and focus ABL's high-energy laser. One is a Raytheon-developed tracking illuminator, which determines the range to a target and where to point the high-energy laser; the other is a Northrop Grumman-developed beacon illuminator, which is used to measure the effects of the atmosphere on the laser beam and compensate for these.
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© 2006 Jane's Information Group
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