Boeing YAL-1: The Laser-Equipped Plane.

Exactly 22 years ago today, a modified Boeing 747-400F took its first flight. The only difference? This wasn’t any ordinary 747 freighter meant for intercontinental cargo operations. We’re talking about the United States Air Force’s airborne laser testbed weapons system: the Boeing YAL-1.

The US military started the airborne laser program (ABL) in 1996, but an experimental prototype was already tested more than a decade ago. Between 1975 and 1984, the Air Force flew a modified NKC-135A with a 10.6-micrometer carbon dioxide laser system onboard. However, the project was not pursued any further despite the testbed providing impressive results.

Interest in the program reignited when the Soviet Union began developing advanced Scud missiles during the Cold War. The US response to the threat was to sanction the Airborne Laser Program, which eventually resulted in the development of the YAL-1.

Boeing used a brand-new 747-400F and made some minor modifications to the airframe in 2002. The aircraft took its first flight on July 18th later the same year. However, the laser wasn’t fired in-flight until March 2007. The following years saw more ground tests, but the YAL-1 achieved a monumental feat in 2010.

In February 2010, the YAL-1 successfully intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile in its boost phase. The aircraft also “engaged” another solid-fuel ballistic missile later that day, meeting all test criteria. This marked the first time an airborne directed-energy weapon had destroyed a ballistic missile in flight.

Despite proving its potential in tests, the US government canceled the Airborne Laser Program later in 2010, citing affordability and lack of technological know-how. The only existing YAL-1 flew its final flight on February 12th, 2012, to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, where it was stored for two years and ultimately scrapped in September 2014.

A 2011 report said the ABL program cost the taxpayers a whopping $5 billion over 16 years. Then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates reportedly said it would cost $1.5 billion apiece to make more YAL-1s and another $100 million a year to keep them airworthy.

In addition to the costs, the YAL-1 also had other operational drawbacks and range issues. Based on the technology available then, the aircraft would have to be extremely close to enemy territory to be able to destroy a ballistic missile in its boost phase.

Since then, the US government has shifted its focus on developing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Even the onboard laser system has been changed to electric as opposed to the YAL-1’s chemical laser.