READ THIS CLOSELY - Jim
        YAL-1A Attack Laser
        Brief: The prototype YAL-1A, using a modified 747-400F plat-
 form, will be the world's first operational high-energy laser weapon
 system. It will be used to kill theater ballistic missiles in their
 boost, or very earliest phase of flight, when the TBMs display bright
 plumes and are under tremendous dynamic stresses, making them vulner-
 able to laser weapons. The airborne laser can target T8Ms hundreds
 of miles away, thus can fly over friendly territory to kill TBMs as
 they are launched.
        Function: Attack laser.
 Operator:       ACC.
        First Flight: spring 2002 (planned full system).
        Delivered: not available
        IOC: Fiscal 2006 (planned).
 Production:     seven (planned).
        Inventory: seven (planned).
        Ceiling: 45,000 ft.
        Unit Location: TBD
        Contractor: Boeing, TRW, Lockheed Martin.
        Power Plant: four GE C2B5F turbofans; each 61,500 lb
 thrust.
        Accommodation: flight crew of two, plus four mission
 specialists.
        Dimensions: span 211 ft 5 in, length 225 ft 2 in,
 height 63 ft 8 in.
        Weight: empty 423,882 lb., gross 800,000 lb.
        Performance: max operating speed Mach 0.83, max laser weapon
 range hundreds of kms, unrefueled endurance at 40,000 ft with opera-
 tional laser weapon load approx 6 hr.
        COMMENTARY
        Air Combat Command will base the Attack Laser in the CONUS,
 but it has the ability to deploy with minimal airlift support to
 any region of the world. It will arrive in theater with its crew,
 laser fuel, and initial spares ready to fight. Typical deployment
 would include five aircraft to establish two, near continuous combat
 air patrols as directed by the Joint Force Commander. The aircraft
 will fly above the clouds and typically operate at an altitude of
 approx 40,000 ft, initially located some 50 nautical miles from the
 enemy, but can be moved forward as US forces gain air superiority.
        The attack laser's main armament is a lightweight, megawatt
 class Chemical Oxygen-Iodine Laser (COIL). The laser weapon contains
 14 COIL modules and sufficient chemical fuel for 20-40 T8M kills.
 An optical system transports the laser beam up to the aircraft nose,
 where a 1.5-meter-diameter mirror in a ball turret points the beam
 at the target. The optical system contains low-power lasers, sensors,
 steering mirrors, and adaptive optics (deformable mirrors) to
 precisely track targets and correct atmospheric distortions, thereby
 increasing the high-energy laser beam's intensity on target and the
 system's lethal range.
 AIR FORCE Magazine 1 May 1998
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