A request for information (RFI) published on Feb. 11 reopens the MDA’s on-again, off-again search for a laser weapon to shoot down threats, particularly in the vulnerable boost phase of a missile’s flight path.
The idea of blasting a boost-phase ballistic weapon out of the sky with a high-energy laser mounted on an aircraft has always been ambitious, and it remains so after 20 years of failed attempts.
MDA will accept responses from May 1 through July 31, according to a notice about the request for proposals. Two prime contracts are expected by late fall or early winter.