Template:POTD/2015-01-20
The Boeing YAL-1 is a missile defense weapons system consisting of a megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) mounted inside a modified Boeing 747-400F. It was intended to destroy tactical ballistic missiles while in their boost phase. Only one YAL-1 was produced, and the program was canceled in December 2011; the aircraft made its first flight on July 18, 2002, and its last on February 14, 2012.Photo: Missile Defense Agency