ZOT ! .....

[richelieu]

Il 747 ABL ce l'ha fatta .....

Fonte: Ares (AW&ST)
A Defense Technology Blog

Airborne Laser Shoots Down Scud-Like Target
Posted by Robert Wall at 2/12/2010 5:32 AM CST

At times it seemed like the day might never come, but the Airborne Laser now has destroyed a boosting ballistic missile in what may be one of the biggest breakthroughs for laser weapons to date.

The highly modified Boeing 747-400, designated YAL-1A, performed the feat at 8:44 p.m. pacific time at the Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center sea range off California, shooting down a liquid-fueled, Scud-like target.

The Missile Defense Agency says the intercept sequence took place within 2 minutes of the target being fired.

ABL has been years in the making and uses a high-power chemical laser to project energy on the target. One of the key features is a deformable mirror, which modifies the laser wavefront when it exits the 747’s distinctive nose to assure the laser energy us deposited on the target most effectively.

Under the ABL sequence of events, the target is detected using an infrared sensor. Then a lower-power laser tracking illuminator laser (TILL) and beacon illuminator laser (BILL) are used to create the firing solution for the high-power chemical oxygen iodine laser to engage.

The test has been almost a decade in the making. When the ABL program got started, program officials were hoping to achieve the milestone around 2001/02. But the technology proved more difficult to develop, causing repeated delays, and the aircraft itself didn't fly until 2002.

The success comes at a time that ABL is effectively winding down, having gradually fallen out of favor at the Pentagon and being viewed now as largely a research effort.

Perhaps that outlook may now be revised, although defense secretary Robert Gates has made clear he is not a fan, questioning the operational utility of the ABL.

During yesterday’s test, ABL also engaged a solid fuel missile, fired from San Nicolas Island, says the MDA. The target was engaged, but ABL stopped the lasing sequence before it was destroyed.

Un filmato d'archivio .....

[Aldus]

Si sa che potenza ha questo laser?

[87Nemesis87]

ma perchè viene oscurato?

[Middle Marker]

a cosa serve quel laser?

[AirGek]

a cosa serve quel laser?

Ad intercettare e distruggere in volo i missili balistici.

[Middle Marker]

a cosa serve quel laser?

Ad intercettare e distruggere in volo i missili balistici.

GOSH!

[richelieu]

Si sa che potenza ha questo laser?

La risposta è qui .....

DATE: 12/02/10
SOURCE: Flight International

Airborne Laser shoots down 1st ballistic target
By Stephen Trimble

The Boeing Airborne Laser Testbed successfully shot down a Scud missile-like target at 2044 PST off the California coast, a landmark achievement in the $6 billion programme's 16-year history.

The ALTB, a 747-400 freighter modified with a 1MW-class chemical laser and a 1.5m telescope mounted on the nose, used onboard sensors to acquire the short-range ballistic target shortly after launch from an offshore, mobile platform, the Missile Defense Agency says in a press release.

The ALTB then fired a low-energy laser to measure atmospheric disturbances and make corrections. Finally, the ALTB fired the high-energy laser, which destroyed the ballistic missile within two minutes of target launch.

The test marked the first attempt by the ALTB to shoot-down a ballistic missile powered by liquid fuel.



Photo by Missile Defense Agency
An infrared image shows the Airborne Laser Test Bed destroying a ballistic target using a high energy laser.


The MDA has not revealed the speed of the target missile or its range from the ALTB.

Boeing released a press release describing the event as a "breakthrough with incredible potential".

"We look forward to conducting additional research and development to explore what this unique directed-energy system can do," says Greg Hyslop, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems.

The Department of Defense, however, last year re-classified the Airborne Laser from a development programme to a testbed effort, and withdrew funds to build a second flight test aircraft based on the 747-8.

In 2009, MDA and Boeing officials said they planned to continue a series of intercept tests through the end of 2010 in an effort to reduce risk and expand the envelope of the ALTB's operations.

The programme has been criticized over its 16-year history as being an expensive and technically problematic solution to the task of intercepting ballistic missiles during the boost phase.

The MDA originally planned to destroy the first ballistic target in 2005, but schedule delays postponed the event for nearly five years.

Boeing is the lead contractor for ABL, but Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin also provide major systems. The ABL is comprised of a chemical oxygen iodine laser, or COIL, as the weapon. The telescope is mounted in a bulbous nose assembly weighing 5,443kg (12,000lb).

[richelieu]

Le foto dell'esperimento .....

Fonte: Ares
A Defense Technology Blog (AW&ST)

NEW: ABL PHOTOS from First Shootdown

Posted by Amy Butler at 2/12/2010 10:48 AM CST

FINALLY!!! What is eight years ... when ABL finally manages to shoot down a ballistic missile target?

The target was a liquid-fueled short-range ballistic missile. It was tracked within seconds and shot down within 2 min. during a Feb. 11 test off the coast of California. Photos below show infrared of that event.

The other two targets were solid-fuel Terrier Black Brant sounding rockets, which MDA says closely mimic a solid-fuel ballistic missile in the boost phase with a cheaper alternative. One of the sounding rockets was lased during the Feb. 11 trial within one hour of the first. No replenishment of the chemicals used for the high-energy laser took place between the two engagements.

But, strangely, MDA quietly used the first Terrier Black Brant during a Feb. 3 flight trial, and officials are only just now acknowledging that test. According to MDA spokesman Rick Lehner, this was a calibration test. The sounding rocket was destroyed Feb. 3, but lasing was stopped in the Feb. 11 test against a Terrier Black Brant prior to full target destruction -- Lehner didn't have an immediate explanation why. But, the MDA statement says all test objectives were met.

Clearly, this is a major step forward in the debate about the use of directed energy in missile defense. Boost phase intercept can be done, we now know (at least under certain conditions) using a high-energy laser. And, it is up for debate whether proving the concept with ABL was worth the $4 billion plus spent on the project. Or, whether it was a multibillion campaign for a show of force that won't result in any feasible operational system.

But, ABL will remain a science project. Once it is finished with any future flight tests (MDA is mum for now on this) it gets turned over to DDRE as a generic directed-energy test bed.

This series of flight trials offers no hope for an actual operational system. Defense Secretary Gates said it quite clearly during a hearing in Congress last year: "Right now the ABL would have to orbit inside the borders of Iran in order to be able to try and use its laser to shoot down that missile in the boost phase... If you were to operationalize this you would be looking at 10 to 20 747s, at a billion and a half dollars apiece, and $100 million a year to operate."








credit: MDA

[richelieu]

Il video .....

Fonte: Ares
A Defense Technology Blog (AW&ST)

Airborne Laser Shoot-down - VIDEO

Posted by Graham Warwick at 2/12/2010 11:49 AM CST

This just went up over on the MDA's ABL web gallery:

..... dal sito della "MDA" .....

http://www.mda.mil/news/gallery_altb.html

[L_P]

Siamo arrivati all'epoca di Star Trek!

[richelieu]

L'esperimento del 10 Gennaio 2010 .....

January 10, 2010: YAL-1 Airborne Laser engages Missile Alternative Range Target Instrument (MARTI).
This test demonstrated the full functionality of the ABL system to successfully acquire, track, and engage a boosting target.
Test instrumentation aboard the MARTI collected data to evaluate ABL laser system performance.
This test engagement was not intended to lethally destroy the missile

[richelieu]

Siamo arrivati all'epoca di Star Trek!

OT ..... quando "Star Trek" non esisteva ancora .....





Visto che artiglieria ? .....

[b747-8]

Per la miseria...dite che me lo presterebbero per fare la carne allo spiedo istantaneamente? Quello si che è un laser coi contro-razzi!

[Almost Blue]

Sono riusciti a beccare un missile appena lanciato e va bene.
Ma in uno scontro vero, a meno che non si parli della Corea del Nord e cioè di disperati all'ultimo stadio tenuti in vita con accanimento terapeutico da Pechino, non credo che ci sia un solo missile, ma decine. Quanto è veloce con la pistola tutto quell'impianto?
No perchè sennò o ne costruiscono interi stormi, o è come proteggersi dalle zanzare con la fionda. O no?
(Chi era la figlia del capo sul Pianeta Proibito? Quella si che era veramente da PROIBIRE! Mamma mamma! Con il mio permesso, che patacca!!!)

[richelieu]

..... Chi era la figlia del capo sul Pianeta Proibito? .....

Altaira .....

[Aldus]

Si sa che potenza ha questo laser?

La risposta è qui .....

Apperò, 1 megawatt è un bel mostriciattolo.
Non vorrei trovarmelo nel sedere.

[Aldus]

Sono riusciti a beccare un missile appena lanciato e va bene.
Ma in uno scontro vero, a meno che non si parli della Corea del Nord e cioè di disperati all'ultimo stadio tenuti in vita con accanimento terapeutico da Pechino, non credo che ci sia un solo missile, ma decine. Quanto è veloce con la pistola tutto quell'impianto?

Beh devi però anche tenere conto che non c'è solo quel sistema per difendersi da missili balistici, ci saranno probabilmente anche i missili antimissili in grado di intercettarli.
Il vantaggio di una contromisura laser deriva teoricamente dal fatto che non ci sono tempi morti (il tempo necessario a far sì che un missile antimissile acquisisca il target e percorra tutta la sua strada per andare a intercettare l'altro, col rischio di venire intercettato a sua volta da altre contromisure).
Operando alla velocità della luce, un laser avrebbe teoricamente un tempo praticamente istantaneo: individuazione bersaglio, attivazione del laser, abbattimento.
Nessun tempo morto.
Naturalmente se ci fossero in volo più aerei dotati di quel dispositivo si innalzerebbe di molto la capacità difensiva (in parole semplici 10 laser sono meglio di 1).
Va tenuto anche conto che questo sistema di difesa ha un vantaggio rispetto alle convenzionali contromisure balistiche: non è un sistema "a perdere".
I missili antimissili ci sono, e possono essere lanciati, ma sono un sistema a perdere.
In pratica il nemico lancia chessò 50 missili e io lancio 50 antimissili.
Anche se li ho abbattuti tutti mi ritrovo alla fine con 50 missili in meno nel mio arsenale difensivo (con tutti i rischi che ne deriva), e ho perso (comunque) milioni di dollari che dovranno essere ri-spesi per fabbricare altri 50 missili che serviranno a infoltire il mio arsenale come in origine.
Il sistema laser invece sarebbe teoricamente in grado di abbattere 50 missili senza diminuire la mia capacità difensiva, non è un sistema "a perdere", è sempre utilizzabile su più bersagli, non svuota progressivamente il mio arsenale di contromisure, e non comporta perdite di milioni di dollari per ogni abbattimento effettuato.
I vantaggi di tale sistema quindi ci sono, sia economici, sia logistici.
Rimane da vedere quanto è veramente reale la sua efficacia, ma a parte questo direi che il concetto di base che sta dietro a quel progetto è ben concepito.

[richelieu]

Qualcosa non ha funzionato durante il terzo "ingaggio" .....

Fonte: AviationWeek.com

MDA Analyzing ABL Test Beam Misalignment

By Amy Butler (Feb 22, 2010)


Analysts are sorting out the cause of a “beam misalignment” that occurred during the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Airborne Laser (ABL) program’s third intercept attempt Feb. 11.

Three separate ABL target engagements have taken place. The first was conducted quietly Feb. 3 by MDA; it was only announced after the Feb. 11 flight trials. MDA Director Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly says the agency wanted to wait until lethality was demonstrated against a liquid-fueled target to announce the engagements. During the first test, a Terrier Black Brant unguided sounding rocket was destroyed in flight off the coast of California.

During the second successful engagement, on Feb. 11, the 747-400F-based chemical oxygen iodine laser took less time than predicted to destroy a liquid-fueled short-range ballistic missile launched from a mobile platform at sea, and this indicates more liquid-fueled missiles could potentially be killed per chemical magazine than previously thought, O’Reilly says. A specific timeline was not provided, but MDA officials say that ABL detected the boosting missile “within seconds” of launch and that the entire engagement — including atmospheric compensation for the high-energy laser — “occurred within two minutes” of the target launch, while the ballistic missile’s rocket motors were still thrusting (Aerospace DAILY, Feb. 16).

A communication from O’Reilly to MDA employees suggests the shootdown occurred less than 1 min. from target launch. “All test objectives were met and the missile was destroyed using approximately 50 percent less laser dwell time than predicted,” he says in his notice, which was not distributed to the public. “The laser was intentionally operated for many additional seconds after the first intercept and met all performance criteria.”

The eight days between the two flight tests were dictated by access to the test range, not limitations brought on by replenishing the onboard chemicals, O’Reilly says.

Analysts are still investigating the cause of a “beam misalignment” during a third engagement, which was executed within one hour of the liquid-fueled target shootdown and without landing or replenishing the chemicals onboard ABL. O’Reilly says the misalignment prompted a safe shut down of the system earlier than planned. Though the destruction of this target, a second Terrier Black Brant launched from San Nicholas Island, Calif., didn’t take place, test objectives were met, he says. They were “to negate a threat representative short-range ballistic missile in the boost phase followed by the high-energy engagement of a second target to demonstrate the capability to engage multiple missiles on a single mission,” he adds.

The government has spent about $5 billion developing and testing ABL to date, according to MDA, including the work of the Boeing-led team, which includes Northrop Grumman developing the laser and Lockheed Martin overseeing optics and beam control.

[Raptor50]

Come mai hanno deciso di modificare proprio un 747? Con quali criteri si decide che aereo equipaggiare? A me ne viene in mente solo l'autonomia di volo, ma per quello avrebbero potuto modificare anche un 777

[richelieu]

Come mai hanno deciso di modificare proprio un 747? Con quali criteri si decide che aereo equipaggiare? A me ne viene in mente solo l'autonomia di volo, ma per quello avrebbero potuto modificare anche un 777

Non si sarà trattato piuttosto anche di una questione di spazio disponibile e di capacità di carico?
E poi, chiedo scusa, ritengo sia sempre meglio poter disporre di un quadrimotore anzichè di un bimotore.

[Raptor50]

Giusto

[Almost Blue]

Già.
Senza contare che il tutto va a corrente giusto?
Di conseguenza avrà la pile e i generatori. Chissà quanto pesa una pila per laser mortale antimmissile ?
Una volta vidi vecchie pile per motori elettrici di sottomarino, erano scatole tutte nere e grosse allincirca come una Uno, solo che mi dettero l'idea di pesare più di una Uno.
E poi un 747 ha anche il vantaggio di avere la cabina al piano di sopra, così tutto il resto sta sotto.

[richelieu]

Si tratta di laser chimici .....
..... il problema sarebbe quello di riempire i relativi serbatoi .....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_YAL-1

http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/abl/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_o ... dine_laser

http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/program/abl.htm

..... infine, dall'immenso sito di "Air Power Australia" .....

http://www.ausairpower.net/APA-DEW-HEL-Analysis.html

[Almost Blue]

Non sapevo.
Sarà pure chimico, ma altro che una Uno, ogni singola cella dice che è grossa come un SUV e pesa tre tonnellate, quindi mi ero pure approssimato per difetto!