Intercept sequence The ABL system used infrared sensors for initial missile detection. After initial detection, three low-power tracking lasers calculated missile course, speed, aimpoint, and air turbulence. Air turbulence deflects and distorts lasers. The ABL adaptive optics use the turbulence measurement to compensate for atmospheric errors. The main laser, located in a turret on the aircraft nose, could be fired for 3 to 5 seconds, causing the missile to break up in flight near the launch area. The ABL was not designed to intercept TBMs in the terminal or descending flight phase. Thus, the ABL would have had to be within a few hundred kilometers of the missile launch point. All of this would have occurred in approximately 8 to 12 seconds.
Intercept sequence The ABL system used infrared sensors for initial missile detection. After initial detection, three low-power tracking la.sers calculated missile course, speed, aimpoint, and air turbulence. Air turbulence deflects and distorts lasers. The ABL adaptive optics use the turbulence measurement to compensate for atmospheric errors. The main laser located in a turret on the aircraft nose, could be fired for 3 to 5 seconds, causing the ,missile to break up in flight near the launch area. The ABL was not designed to intercept TBMs in the terminal or descending flight phase Thus, the ABL would have had to be within a few hundred kilometers of the missile launch point. All of this would have occurred in approximately 8 to 12 seconds.