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Photos

Snapshots of what’s happening in the Defense Department.

In a test conducted at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., in February 1996, the U.S. Army used a laser to destroy a short-range rocket in flight at the U.S. Army Space and Strategic Command's High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility as part of the Nautilus program. This was the first time a laser engaged and destroyed a short-range rocket in flight. This was also the first time that a warhead was exploded in flight by any developmental or operational weapon system. The laser used for the Nautilus program is a megawatt class, continuous wave Deuterium Fluoride chemical laser known as Mid-Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser or MIRACL.

U.S. Army Nautilus program laser explodes rocket in flight.

In a test conducted at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., in February 1996, the U.S. Army used a laser to destroy a short-range rocket in flight at the U.S. Army Space and Strategic Command's High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility as part of the Nautilus program. This was the first time a laser engaged and destroyed a short-range rocket in flight. This was also the first time that a warhead was exploded in flight by any developmental or operational weapon system. The laser used for the Nautilus program is a megawatt class, continuous wave Deuterium Fluoride chemical laser known as Mid-Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser or MIRACL.

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