http://www.spacedaily.com/news/laser-02e.htmlhttp://www.spacedaily.com/news/laser-03c.html<snip>
After a complete check of its performance, the Boeing will be moved later this year to Edwards Air Force Base in California, where it will be equipped with tracking and high-energy laser systems.
Current plans call for building seven such aircraft that will help defend US troops and bases against Scud-like missiles in conflict zones.
The US government plans to spend 2.7 billion dollars on the airborne laser program in the next five years, according to defense officials.
"This system is one of the most complex engineering challenges ever undertaken in an aircraft, and our team has made solid progress," said Boeing Vice President Scott Fancher.
The program brings together three mammoth defense contractors -- Boeing, Lockheed Martin and TRW, according to industry officials.
The experimental flight over Kansas was part of a stepped-up test program for the missile defense system the Pentagon is embarking upon now that the constraints of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) have been removed.
<snip>
These articles show how the invention of the "rubber mirror" in 2001 has now led to a practical laser. A secondary control beam changes 400 mirrors to act as one and keeps the primary laser focused on the missile (or outside agitator). The beam can go 180 miles through the atmosphere.
This is very real, folks and the secret weapon of the neo-cons. THis is another thing NOT IN THE NEWS. This is why they want to militarize space because they just succeeded in inventing the Big Stick that could rule the planet for who knows how long. All that power would be in Bush's hands.
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