Boeing je objavio,da je u maju 2009.godine tajno demonstrirao mogucnost mobilne laserske platforme Avenger da prati i unisti u letu malu bespilotnu letelicu.Laser je bio montiran na prikolici,na kojoj je integrisan radarski daljinomer PVO sistema Avenger.Ovaj eksperiment je veoma znacajan,jer su americko RV i Boeing izveli do sada jedinstven opit,tokom kojeg su izvrsili precizno pracenje i pogadjanje malog cilja u vazuhu na velikoj daljini koristeci relativno malu snagu lasera.Slican poduhvat Boeing je ponovio u septembru,kada je pomocu mobilnog lasera unistio 50 improvizovanih eksplozivnih naprava,kakve je realno ocekivati na bojnom polju.Perspektivno gledajuci,primena lasera kao modernog oruzja na borbenim masinama je "novo pametno oruzje",koje neminovno dolazi u bliskoj buducnosti.Kao deo jednog sveobuhvatnog programa borbe protiv bespilotnih letelica Boeing je uspesno isprobao i primenu topa kalibra 25mm s iste laserske platforme.Kako je poznato Boeing je lider u vojnoj primeni lasera za sva tri roda americke vojske,koja za sada obuhvata:leteci laser(Airborne Laser),takticki laser(Advanced Tactical Laser),laser sa slobodnim elektronima(Free electron Laser) i laser velike energije(High Energy Laser technology Demonstrator).

Izvor:Aeromagazin

The Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser Testbed, (formerly Airborne Laser) weapons system is a megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) mounted inside a modified Boeing 747-400F. It is primarily designed as a missile defense system to destroy tactical ballistic missiles (TBMs), while in boost phase. The aircraft was designated YAL-1A  in 2004 by the U.S. Department of Defense.[1]

The YAL-1 with a low-power laser was test-fired in flight, at an airborne target in 2007.[2] A high-energy laser was used to intercept a test target in January 2010, [3]and the following month, successfully destroyed two test missiles.[4]

The Air Force has not requested any further funds for the Airborne Laser and Air Force Chief Schwartz has said that the system "does not reflect something that is operationally viable.”

Development
YAL-1 undergoing modification in November, 2004, at Edwards AFB
Contractors dismantle the Boeing 747 fuselage portion of the System Integration Laboratory at the Birk Flight Test Center.

The Airborne Laser Laboratory, a less-powerful prototype installed in a Boeing NKC-135A, shot down several missiles in the 1980s.[6]

The Airborne Laser program was initiated by the Air Force in 1996 with the awarding of a product definition risk reduction contract to Boeing's ABL team.[7][8] In 2001, the program was transferred to the MDA and converted to an acquisition program.[8]

The development of the system is being accomplished by a team of contractors. Boeing Defense, Space & Security provides the aircraft, the management team and the systems integration processes. Northrop Grumman is supplying the COIL, and Lockheed Martin is supplying the nose turret and the fire control system.[8][9]

In 2001, a retired Air India 747-200 was acquired by the Air Force, and trucked without its wings from the Mojave Airport to Edwards Air Force Base where the airframe was incorporated into the System Integration Laboratory (SIL) building at Edwards' Birk Flight Test Center, to be used to fit check and test the various components.[10][11] The SIL was built primarily to test the COIL at a simulated operational altitude, and during that phase of the program, the laser was operated over 50 times, achieving lasing durations representative of actual operational engagements. These tests fully qualified the system so that it could be integrated into the actual aircraft. Following the completion of the tests, the laboratory is being dismantled, and the 747-200 fuselage is being removed.[11]

Boeing completed initial modifications to a new 747-400F off the production line in 2002, culminating in its first flight on July 18, 2002 from Boeing's Wichita, Kansas facility. Ground testing of the COIL resulted in its successful firing in 2004. The YAL-1 was assigned to the 417th Flight Test Squadron Airborne Laser Combined Test Force at Edwards AFB.
[edit] Testing

Besides the COIL, the system also includes two kilowatt-class Target Illuminator Lasers for target tracking. On March 15, 2007, the YAL-1 successfully fired this laser in flight, hitting its target. The target was an NC-135E Big Crow test aircraft that has been specially modified with a "signboard" target on its fuselage. The test validated the system's ability to track an airborne target and measure and compensate for atmospheric distortion.[9]

The next phase in the test program involved the "surrogate high-energy laser" (SHEL), a stand-in for the COIL, and will demonstrate the transition from target illumination to simulated weapons firing. The COIL system was installed in the aircraft and undergoing ground testing by July 2008.[12]

In an April 6, 2009 press conference, the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recommended the cancellation of the planned second ABL aircraft and said that the program should return to a Research and Development effort. "The ABL program has significant affordability and technology problems and the program’s proposed operational role is highly questionable," Gates said in making the recommendation.[13]

There was a test launch just off the coast of California on June 6, 2009.[14] If successful the new Airborne Laser Aircraft could be ready for operation by 2013. President Obama had originally said that he was cutting the funding for that program but it was recommended by the Secretary of Defense that they should keep it. On August 13, 2009 the first in-flight test of the YAL-1 culminated with a successful firing of the SHEL at an instrumented test missile.[15]

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) on August 18, 2009 successfully fired the high-energy laser aboard the aircraft in flight for the first time. The YAL-1 took off from Edwards Air Force Base and fired its high-energy laser while flying over the California High Desert. The laser was fired into an onboard calorimeter, which captured the beam and measured its power.[16]

In January 2010, the high-energy laser was used in-flight, to intercept, although not destroy, a test Missile Alternative Range Target Instrument (MARTI) in the boost phase of flight.[3] On February 11, 2010 in a test at Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center-Weapons Division Sea Range off the central California coast, the system successfully destroyed a liquid-fuel boosting ballistic missile. Less than an hour after that first missile had been destroyed, a second missile—a solid-fuel design—had, as announced by the MDA, been "successfully engaged", but not destroyed, and that all test criteria had been met. The MDA announcement also noted that ABL had destroyed an identical solid-fuel missile in flight eight days earlier.[17] However, it was later reported in the preeminent industry magazine Aviation Week & Space Technology that whereas the first Feb. 11 engagement required 50% less dwell time than expected to destroy the missile, the second engagement less than an hour later on the solid-fuel missile had to be cut short before it could be destroyed because of a “beam misalignment” problem.[18]
[edit] Design and overview
Artist impression of two YAL-1As shooting down ballistic missiles

The ABL does not burn through or disintegrate its target. It heats the missile skin, weakening it, causing failure from high speed flight stress. If proven successful, seven ABL-armed 747s will be built and assigned to two combat theaters. The aircraft were originally slated to enter service in 2008, but development has been slower and costlier than planned. The current plan calls for a prototype ABL to attempt to shoot down a test missile in 2009.[19] Data acquired in the test will shape the final production design, which is now expected to enter service several years from now.
[edit] COIL

The heart of the system is the COIL, comprising six interconnected modules, each as large as an SUV turned on-end. Each module weighs about 6,500 pounds (3,000 kg). When fired, the laser produces enough energy in a five-second burst to power a typical American household for more than an hour.[9]
[edit] Use against ICBMs vs TBMs
The US Air Force says the aircraft holds the world's largest turret assembly.

The ABL was designed for use against tactical ballistic missiles (TBMs). These have a shorter range and fly more slowly than ICBMs. The MDA has recently suggested the ABL might be used against ICBMs during their boost phase. This could require much longer flights to get in position, and might not be possible without flying over hostile territory. Liquid-fueled ICBMs, which have thinner skins, and remain in boost phase longer than TBMs, might be easier to destroy.

If the ABL achieves its design goals, it could destroy liquid-fueled ICBMs up to 600 km away. Tougher solid-fueled ICBM destruction range would likely be limited to 300 km, too short to be useful in many scenarios, according to a 2003 report by the American Physical Society on National Missile Defense.[20]
[edit] Intercept sequence

The ABL system uses infrared sensors for initial missile detection. After initial detection, three low power tracking lasers calculate missile course, speed, aimpoint, and air turbulence. Air turbulence deflects and distorts the laser beam. The ABL adaptive optics use the turbulence measurement to compensate for atmospheric errors. The main laser, located in a turret on the aircraft nose, is fired for 3 to 5 seconds, causing the missile to break up in flight near the launch area. The ABL is not designed to intercept TBMs in the terminal, or descending, flight phase. Thus, the ABL must be within a few hundred kilometers of the missile launch point. All of this occurs in approximately 8 to 12 seconds.
[edit] Operational considerations
A technician evaluates the interaction of multiple lasers that will be used aboard the Airborne Laser.

The ABL uses chemical fuel similar to rocket propellant to generate the high laser power. Current plans call for each 747 to carry enough laser fuel for about 20 shots, or perhaps as many as 40 low-power shots against fragile TBMs. The ABL aircraft must land to refuel the laser. Preliminary operational plans call for the ABL to be escorted by fighters and possibly electronic warfare aircraft. The ABL aircraft would likely orbit near potential launch sites for long periods, flying a figure-eight pattern that allows the aircraft to keep the laser aimed toward the missiles. The aircraft can be refueled in flight, enabling it to stay aloft for long periods.
[edit] Use against other targets

In theory, the ABL could be used against hostile fighter aircraft, cruise missiles, or even low-earth-orbit satellites (see anti-satellite weapon). However, as they are not its intended target, the capability against them is unknown. The ABL infrared target acquisition system is designed to detect the hot exhaust of TBMs in boost phase. Satellites and other aircraft could have a much lower heat signature, making them more difficult to detect. An analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists discusses potential ABL use against low earth orbit satellites.[21]

Use against ground targets seems unlikely. Aside from the difficulty of acquiring and tracking a ground target, firing through the dense atmosphere would weaken the beam. Ground targets such as armored vehicles are not fragile enough to be damaged by a megawatt-class laser. Another program, the Advanced Tactical Laser, envisions air-to-ground use of a megawatt-class laser mounted on an aircraft better suited for low altitude flight.

Izvor

Gledao sam emisiju o ovim cudima.Vise nego interesantno.Svakako buducnost...

Evo jos par slika,koje malo pojasnjavaju celu koncepciju aviona:

Противмера за овај ласер је обложити ракету аморфним силикатним стаклом. 

I ja sam odmah pomislio: da li se laser te jacine odbija od nekog finog ogledala, koliko ga greje itd. Ako je raketa sva sjajna i uglacana kao ogledalo, oblozena ili cak premazana nekim odgovarajucim slojem koji bi odbio laserski zrak u nepoznatom pravcu ( ), onda...   ludilu nikad kraja.

Да, на пример ретрорефлектор од аморфног силикатног стакла.

мачје око

A oni koji su pravili taj laser, da li su razmisljali o takvim kontramerama? Pa nisu valjda toliki bolesnici da im to nije palo na pamet.

Da li se isplati postavljati ovo na rakete ili artiljerijska zrna:

MOLYBDENUM MIRRORS

Uncoated solid Molybdenum (“Moly”) mirrors are simply the toughest, most durable, longest lasting laser mirrors available.

Molybdenum has the lowest thermal expansion of any commercially used metal, and will withstand extreme temperatures without significantly expanding or softening. It has a Melting Point of 2,623 °C (4,753 °F).

For infra red uses, polished uncoated Molybdenum has a high natural broad band reflectivity, approx 98%.

Molybdenum mirrors need no coating, the extremely hard surface resists weld spatter, fumes, smoke and process debris. Molybdenum mirrors can be scrubbed with brushes, soak cleaned in organic solvents or detergents repeatedly.

Solid molybdenum mirrors are used in high power CO2 laser welding, where debris and back spatter would destroy other mirrors, and in TEA lasers where the high pulse energies can cause localised melting on the face through laser damage.

In laser cutting the final mirror of the delivery system is often upgraded to a Molybdenum one, as this is the most exposed, and therefore most frequently damaged mirror.

It's not just high power CO2 lasers that can benefit from Molybdenum mirrors, Er:YAG lasers, especially surgical and dental laser systems, Quantum Cascade Lasers (QCL) for gas sensing and spectroscopy, in fact any infra red application that needs durable, tough, and chemically resistant mirrors benefit from using solid molybdenum reflectors.

Тешко да је будућност.

 jevreji su hteli da prave neki laserski sistem protiv raketa i artiljerijskih projektila  palestinaca ( u stvari amerikanci su ga pravili za nih  ) . bilo je nekih pocetnih uspeha ,ali se ispostavilo da je suvishe skup za odrzavanje a i da je neefikasan kad je u toku pescana oluja ili ima niskih oblaka . o kontra-merama nisu nishta pisali ,ali verovatno je da su i one ulazile u igru  pa se od svega odustalo .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactical_High_Energy_Laser

Pa ako imas neku letelicu ili tenk, gledaces da je maskiras na ne napravis od nje ogledalo da se cakli



Eve ga:



Inace, ionako je bila faza za ispitivanje, mislim da cak nije bio u aktivnoj upotrebi. Jasno, pescana oluja, magla ili niski oblaci sprecavaju delovanje. Sa druge strane kolko kosta to cudo a koliko granata iz minobacaca (u Iraku sigurno dzabe). Al opet racunas kolika je steta ako pogode nesto od vitalnog znacaja.