Evolutionary Air and Space Global Laser Engagement
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The Evolutionary Air and Space Global Laser Engagement, or EAGLE for short, is a new plan being developed by the United States Air Force's Missile Defense Agency.
The project is a combination of two separate missile defense efforts: the Aerospace Relay Mirror System and a new, high-altitude airship. The project is designed as a means to destroy enemy missiles before they would have the opportunity to hit targets on American soil. It involves using either ground-based, air-based or space-based lasers deflected off a massive airship (roughly 25 times the size of the Goodyear blimp) covered in mirrors that could destroy missiles but also satellites or spacecraft in a low-earth orbit.
The first tests of the airship are scheduled to begin in 2006.
External links
- Popular Science article on the project (http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviation/article/0,12543,583484,00.html)
- Defense Tech article on the project (http://www.defensetech.org/archives/000742.html)