![]() ![]() Since the launch of this initiative, staff have been awarded over 300 grants ranging from $10K to $500K. ![]() This funding is in addition to the substantial IRAD funding that mission areas across the Lab offer to worthwhile ideas and investigations. This initiative allows staff members to compete for significant funding, sometimes over a period of years, to advance ideas that could impact the future work of the Laboratory. In 2015, the Lab launched a major initiative to increase internal investments in high-risk, transformational ideas and technologies: Project Catalyst. An IRAD project must have as its objective the use of science and technology to solve a problem or develop a concept. Many IRAD projects have matured into sponsored work that has had real impact on our nation. Managed by APL’s mission areas, IRADs are an important part of APL’s core work and are undertaken in one of four categories: basic research, applied research, development, or systems or other concept formulation studies. IRADs allow funding for APL staff members to pursue ideas that are not currently funded by sponsors but address domains or areas of interest to the Laboratory and the nation. The Independent Research and Development (IRAD) program is a robust technical research and development effort that aims to strengthen APL’s technical competencies and position us to address strategic priorities. ![]() Independent Research and Development Program To ensure that the Lab continues to be a world-class center for research breakthroughs, we have created wide-ranging innovation programs and initiatives to encourage and fund our staff members in their exploration of ideas, inspirations, and drive to discover. The YAL-1A Airborne Laser Test Bed aircraft was ferried to Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona where it was placed in storage at the Air Force's Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group.Innovation at APL is woven into everything we do and has been at the heart of the Laboratory’s mission since our founding. The program was terminated due to budget reductions on 14 February 2012. In 2011 funding was eliminated as the program was eight years behind schedule and it had a staggeringly large budget of $500 million per year. However, in that same year the device failed two tests in a row. This resulted in the program receiving an additional $40 million in funding even though the Secretary of Defense himself admitted it was not realistic. In 2010, the ALTB successfully knocked a "threat representative" missile out of flight from a distance of 50 miles. In January 2010, the high energy laser was fired to intercept a test Missile Alternative Range Target Instrument (MARTI). The YAL 1A laser travels at the speed of light to destroy ballistic missiles in their boost phase of flight. The YAL-1A is a prototype that employs a highly modified Boeing 747-400 airframe equipped with sensors, lasers and sophisticated optics to find, track and destroy ballistic missiles in their boost, or ascent, phase. The ABL was an airborne-directed energy weapon system. It was reactivated in 2006 and performed ground and flight testing on the Boeing YAL-1A until 2010, before that program was cancelled. The squadron conducted flight testing of the McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III until it was inactivated in 1995 as the 417th Test Squadron. It is assigned to the 96th Operations Group at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, where it was reactivated on 17 April 2019. The 417th Flight Test Squadron is an active United States Air Force squadron. When fired, the laser used enough energy in a five-second burst to power a typical American household for more than an hour. The heart of the system was the COIL, comprising six interconnected modules, each as large as an SUV.Įach module weighed about 6,500 pounds (3,000 kg). The aircraft was designated YAL-1A in 2004 by the U.S. It was primarily designed as a missile defense system to destroy tactical ballistic missiles (TBMs) while in boost phase. Boeing's Laser Jet can take out targets 50 miles away (like Chyna EMP balloons) but was cancelled✈️□□The Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser Testbed (formerly Airborne Laser) weapons system was a megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) mounted inside a modified military Boeing 747-400F. ![]()
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