how big is the ALTB platform? does it require a bomber sized craft or are we talking fighter craft that will soon be using lasers instead of missles?

747-400F

Of course, tech always gets smaller, and this is just the testbed. But I do not see any real possibility for any kind of production model to be funded in the near future, or maybe ever.

Still, very cool tech.

747-400F

Of course, tech always gets smaller, and this is just the testbed. But I do not see any real possibility for any kind of production model to be funded in the near future, or maybe ever.

Still, very cool tech.

Is it still a solid-state laser?

Chris Knight: As you know, Mitch and I were working on the cyanide system. Well, earlier today it ate itself. But, these little set-backs are just what we need to take a giant step forward. Right, Kent? Needless to say, I was a little despondent about the melt down, but then, in the midst of my preparations for hari kiri, it came to me. It is possible to synthesize excited bromide in an argon matrix. Yes, it's an excimer frozen in its excited state.
Bodie: Th... That's impossible.
Chris Knight: It's a chemical laser but in solid, not gaseous, form. Put simply, in deference to you, Kent, it's like lasing a stick of dynamite. As soon as we apply a field, we couple to a state, it is radiatively coupled to the ground state. I figure we can extract at least ten to the twenty-first photons per cubic centimeter which will give one kilojoule per cubic centimeter at 600 nanometers, or, one megajoule per liter.