Airborne Laser (ABL)

The Airborne Laser (ABL) weapon system made its first flight in 2002 and was cancelled in December 2011. When carried on board the YAL-1A aircraft, it was designed as a component of the boost defense segment (BDS) of the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). It was designed to operate (probably in pairs) at altitudes above the clouds where it could acquire and track a missile during boost flight, when it is at its most vulnerable and predictable...