Video: A large laser mounted to a passenger jet is undergoing tests in the US

The Pentagon may soon have a new anti-missile weapon – a high-powered laser fired from the nose of a large jet plane to destroy missiles soon after they leave the ground.

The latest video footage from the project reveals the results from a round of testing that ended in December 2008 (see our story on the tests). A prototype mounted in a plane on the ground fired infrared laser beams at a target in 1 second bursts.

The system has left the ground too, in trials 16 months ago, that proved the weapon could track a simulated missile well enough to reliably deploy the powerful beam if required.

The project involves defence companies Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grunman, as well as US forces engineers, and the first airborne firing of the main laser is scheduled for August 2009.

However, the project’s future funding is not assured beyond that point. The new Obama administration is yet to decide whether to continue developing the weapon beyond 2009.