Boeing Grip On Misdef Wanes With ABL Demise

After nearly 16 years of development and more than $5 billion spent on a Boeing 747-400F-based Airborne Laser (ABL) ballistic missile killer, the Pentagon has finally called it quits. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is now turning its attention to pursuing smaller directed-energy payloads to be fielded on high-flying unmanned aircraft within the next decade ...