Editing Boeing YAL-1 (section)

=== Origins ===
[[File:Yal1-edw-041103-wp-01.jpg|thumb|YAL-1 undergoing modification in November 2004, at [[Edwards AFB]] ]]
[[File:Dismantling the System Integration Laboratory.jpg|thumb|Contractors dismantle the Boeing 747 fuselage portion of the System Integration Laboratory at the Birk Flight Test Center.]]

The Airborne Laser Laboratory was a less-powerful prototype installed in a [[Boeing NC-135|Boeing NKC-135A]].  It shot down several missiles in tests conducted in the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/all.htm|title= Airborne Laser Laboratory |publisher=globalsecurity.org}}</ref>

The Airborne Laser program was initiated by the [[United States Air Force|US Air Force]] in 1996 with the awarding of a product definition risk reduction contract to Boeing's ABL team.<ref>
{{Cite web |url=http://www.boeing.com/special/abl/news/ |title=Airborne Laser:News |access-date=June 20, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722004407/http://www.boeing.com/special/abl/news/ |archive-date=July 22, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }} 
</ref><ref name="overview">{{cite web |url=http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/abl/doc_src/ABL_overview.pdf |title=Airborne Laser Background presentation |publisher=boeing.com |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070224135448/http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/abl/doc_src/ABL_overview.pdf |archive-date=February 24, 2007 |df=mdy }}</ref> In 2001, the program was transferred to the U.S. [[Missile Defense Agency]] (MDA) and converted to an acquisition program.<ref name="overview" />

The development of the system was being accomplished by a team of contractors. [[Boeing Defense, Space & Security]] provides the aircraft, the management team, and the systems integration processes. [[Northrop Grumman]] was supplying the COIL, and [[Lockheed Martin]] was supplying the nose turret and the fire control system.<ref name="overview" /><ref name="atn1" />

In 2001, a retired [[Air India]] 747-200 was acquired by the Air Force and trucked without its wings from the [[Mojave Spaceport|Mojave Airport]] to [[Edwards Air Force Base]] where the airframe was incorporated into the System Integration Laboratory (SIL) building at Edwards' Birk Flight Test Center, to be used to fit check and test the various components.<ref>{{cite book |last=Radecki |first=Alan K. |title=A Mojave Scrapbook |publisher=Mojave Books |year=2005}}</ref><ref name="aerotech070406">{{cite web |last=Hernandez |first=Jason |url=https://www.edwards.af.mil/News/story/id/123046780/ |title=Testers end high-energy laser tests, dismantle Airborne Laser SIL facility |publisher=USAF press release |date=March 29, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080107124906/http://www.edwards.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123046780 |archive-date=January 7, 2008 |df=mdy }}</ref> The SIL was built primarily to test the COIL at a simulated operational altitude, and during that phase of the program, the laser was operated over 50 times, achieving lasing durations representative of actual operational engagements. These tests fully qualified the system so that it could be integrated into the actual aircraft. Following the completion of the tests, the laboratory was dismantled, and the 747-200 fuselage was removed.<ref name="aerotech070406" />

The aircraft was built as a [[747-400F]] freighter at the [[Boeing Everett Factory]] with [[manufacturer's serial number]] 30201 and fuselage line number 1238. The aircraft took its first flight on 6 January 2000.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}} It was shortly thereafter delivered to [[Boeing Defense, Space & Security]] in Wichita, Kansas for initial conversion for military use. The aircraft took to the skies again on 18 July 2002.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}} Ground testing of the [[chemical oxygen iodine laser]] (COIL) resulted in its successful firing in 2004. The YAL-1 was assigned to the 417th Flight Test Squadron Airborne Laser Combined Test Force at Edwards AFB.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}}