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.
Space Force Gen. Michael A. Guetlein, the director of the Pentagon’s Golden Dome program, warned that without the Defense Department’s $350 billion reconciliation request, the homeland missile defense effort is in dire straits.