Airborne laser weapons heating up

The US Missile Defense Agency and Boeing are creeping ever closer to test firing a laser at ballistic missile.

Boeing this week said it had completed its first Airborne Laser (ABL) missile laser activation testing on the ground at Edwards Air Force Base, moving the program "a giant step closer to ABL's missile shoot-down demonstration planned for 2009," the company said.

The final plumbing and wiring installations will be completed in the coming weeks.

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