The Airborne Laser has aced another “significant development milestone,” says Air Force Lt. Gen. Trey Obering, head of the Missile Defense Agency, when it successfully completed its first of two low power system integration-active flight test knowledge points. In other words, the ABL’s battle management and beam control/fire control systems tracked, targeted, and engaged an airborne target. More tests follow before technicians install the aircraft’s Chemical Oxygen-Iodine Laser later this year at Edwards AFB, Calif.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
