Boeing's laser-equipped 747-400F ready for testing

Laser weapon.Do you remember the scene from Independence Day where buildings were destroyed at an instance by a powerful laser weapon? Looks like we are not too far from it after all!

On Friday, the US Missile Defense Agency rolled out an airborne laser aircraft, the latest development in a missile-defence system that was once ridiculed as a Star Wars-style fantasy.

In a ceremony at Boeing's integrated defence systems facility in Wichita, the agency announced it was ready to flight test systems on the ABL aircraft, a modified Boeing 747-400F designed to destroy enemy missiles.

Its director, General Henry "Trey" Obering III, evoked the Jedi Knights vs Evil Empire saga. "I believe we are building the forces of good to beat the forces of evil ... We are giving the American people their first light sabre."

Link: The Independent via Engadget
Image: Engadget
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