Air Force, Boeing test laser over NM
Posted at: 06/15/2009 4:05 PM
By: The Associated Press
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AP) - The U.S. Air Force and the Boeing Co. have successfully tested a high-power laser while in flight over southern New Mexico.
St. Louis-based Boeing Integrated Defense Systems said Monday in a news release that the laser hit a target located on the ground during Saturday's test.
The advanced tactical laser aircraft took off from Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque and fired the laser while flying over White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico.
Boeing is developing the laser - a C-130H aircraft equipped with a high-energy chemical laser and a beam control system - for the Air Force. Gary Fitzmire, vice president and program director of Boeing Directed Energy Systems, says the test shows that the laser's ultra-precision will dramatically reduce collateral damage.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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