Airborne Laser program dumped after 16 years and billions spent in development

Image via Wikipedia

For the past sixteen or so years, the United States military has been developing a 747 jumbo jet outfitted with a laser so powerful it can actually shoot missiles out of the air mid-flight.

While this – and so many other projects being developed by our military – seem like complete science fiction, indeed the Airborne Laser Test Bed (ALTB) was actually being worked on for quite some time.

The U.S. Department of Defense’s Missile Defense Agency announced on February 14 that the Airborne Laser Test Bed underwent its final flight and is now being transferred into long-term storage at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.

CONTINUED HERE