Air Force Test Fires Laser

That headline is not a joke.  At Edwards Air Force base, 20 minutes from where I grew up, the Air Force has test fired their anti-missile chemical laser.

The test of the high-energy chemical laser was conducted Sunday by the contractors and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, the company said.

“The program remains on track to reach the missile shoot-down demonstration planned for 2009,” said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems.

I’ve known about the Air Force laser program for a while now, but the fact that they’re actually testing it and firing the laser pretty much makes my day.  We’re still a long way off from X-Wings, but for some reason the concept of actually mounting functional laser weapons on aircraft makes me all tingly.

2 Comments

  1. This reminds me of the movie Real Genius. Classic 80’s nerdy scifi/comedy in Val Kilmer’s early days. Although the application in the movie is a covert offensive/assassination weapon, the general idea is the same.

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