New Scientist Technology - US on course for shrink-to-fit laser: "US on course for shrink-to-fit laser
* 25 August 2005
* NewScientist.com news service
* David Cohen
* Helen Knight
A HIGH-powered, lightweight laser weapon that can be fitted to fighter aircraft to destroy missiles tens of kilometres away has been designed by DARPA, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency in the US.
Until now, lasers powerful enough to blow up missiles have been so big they can only be carried by large aircraft such as jumbo jets. For example, the Airborne Laser being developed by the US's Missile Defense Agency is designed to fit onto a Boeing 747 freighter aircraft to track and destroy ballistic missiles during their boost phase, although the weapon has yet to undergo flight tests.
But now DARPA says it has managed to shrink all the hardware for such a weapon so that it can fit under the wing of a fighter jet or piggyback on a vehicle to zap anything from ground-to-air and air-to-air missiles to rocket-propelled grenades."
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