world’s biggest turret assemble...

On February 11, 2010 in a test at Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center-Weapons Division Sea Range off the central California coast, the Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser Testbed, (formerly Airborne Laser), successfully destroyed a liquid-fuel boosting ballistic missile. This test was the first time that a directed-energy system destroyed a liquid-fueled ballistic missile in flight.

Unfortunately, the ABL projected was deemed operationally unfeasible by the Air Force, and after 16 years of development and a cost of over $5 billion, was cancelled in 2012.

Fact: The YAL-1 had the world’s biggest turret assemble (just see the image). A typical five-second burst of laser from this turret produced enough energy to power a normal American household for more than an hour.