Trouble with test equipment has delayed Wednesday morning’s test of the airborne laser test bed off of the coast of southern California until at least Saturday, according to the Missile Defense Agency. There was “a problem with the tracking camera cooling system” that could not be repaired in time to meet the available range times, said MDA in a release. ALTB is expected to be mission-ready when the next test window opens up on Saturday. The test bed is a modified 747 equipped with a powerful laser system. During the upcoming test, ALTB will attempt to shoot down a boosting ballistic missile with the laser’s beam from a distance of more than 100 miles. Back in February, ALTB shot down the same type of missile at a distance greater than 50 miles (see below).
A new Navy missile could fill a long-range air-to-air need for the U.S. Air Force’s fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-generation fighters. The Navy’s portfolio acquisition executive for munitions posted information on the AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile online on Aug. 22, the same day it unveiled the project at the service’s…