The US military conducted another unsuccessful test of an air-launched laser cannon designed to destroy ballistic missiles. This "Star Wars weapon" didn't even fire.
A high-energy, megawatt-class chemical laser was installed aboard a specially modified Boeing-747 aircraft. "The laser was tasked with destroying a short-range solid-propellant ballistic missile in its acceleration phase," said Rick Lehner, an official with the Pentagon's missile defense agency.
According to the US Department of Defense, the target missile launched successfully. The sensors of the laser system were able to detect the heat of the rocket engine exhaust gases. However, the equipment was unable to provide stable targeting. "Therefore, there was no" shot "of the high-energy laser," Lehner explained. He assured that the developers of this weapon are currently trying to deal with the problem that has arisen.
Recall that in early September, the Pentagon conducted another laser cannon test, which also ended in complete failure. The weapon of the future was tasked with destroying the target missile from a distance of 160 kilometers. But the experiment failed because of a software failure in the laser beam control system.
As Dni. Ru wrote, earlier the US Department of Defense had technical problems with new weapons. In particular, the tests had to be postponed due to problems identified in the cooling system of the tracking camera.
To date, the laser cannon, on the development of which the United States has spent over four billion dollars, has been able to hit only one target missile, according to the business newspaper Vzglyad. Successful shootings for the Pentagon took place in February. The distance to the target was approximately 80 kilometers.
