Boeing, industry teammates and the US Missile Defense Agency successfully demonstrated in flight tests that the Airborne Laser's baffle management and beam control/fire control systems can complete the full series of steps required to support a ballistic missile intercept.

Boeing, industry teammates and the US Missile Defense Agency successfully demonstrated in flight tests that the Airborne Laser's baffle management and beam control/fire control systems can complete the full series of steps required to support a ballistic missile intercept. Boeing is the prime contractor for ABL. During these "low power" tests, which concluded 23 August, the modified Boeing 747-400F operated from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and used its infrared sensors to find an instrumented target board located on a U.S. Air Force NC-135E "Big Crow" test aircraft. ABL's battle management system, developed by Boeing, then issued engagement and target location instructions to the Lockheed Martin-designed beam control/ fire control system. The beam control/fire control system acquired the target and fired its two solid-state illuminator lasers to actively track the target and measure atmospheric conditions. Since the high-energy laser is not yet installed on the aircraft, ABL fired a low-power surrogate laser at the Big Crow, simulating a target engagement. After the programme installs the Northrop Grumman-built high-energy laser in the aircraft, it will conduct a series of system-level ground and flight tests, leading to an intercept test against an in-flight ballistic missile in 2009. The high-power chemical laser already has completed ground testing at Edwards Air Force Base.