The U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s  (MDA) airborne laser successfully shot down its first ballistic missile recently over Ventura, Calif.  The airborne laser “successfully destroyed a boosting ballistic missile” and “the entire engagement occurred within two minutes of the target missile launch.” The laser system, called an “Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB)” is being developed by the Boeing Corporation and the MDA and is essentially a “modified 747 jumbo jet” with a “higher-energy laser” attached to the nose of the plane.