Boeing YAL-1

The Boeing YAL-1 airborne laser testbed was a modified Boeing 747-400F with a megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine laser mounted inside, designed to test whether a laser could destroy tactical ballistic missiles in their boost phase. The aircraft was built as a 747-400F freighter at the Boeing Everett Factory, took its first flight on 6 January 2000 and was then converted for military use at Boeing in Wichita, Kansas. It was designated YAL-1A in 2004 by the United States Department of Defense. A low-power laser was test-fired in flight at an airborne target in 2007, a high-energy laser was used to intercept a test target in January 2010, and on 11 February 2010 the system destroyed a liquid-fuel ballistic missile. The program was canceled in December 2011, the aircraft made its final flight on 14 February 2012 to storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, and it was scrapped in September 2014.