The AirBorne Laser (ABL) was a system designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in their most vulnerable boost phase at ranges of up to 600km. It consisted of a high-energy laser mounted in a modified Boeing 747F cargo plane flying at 40,000 ft. Originally designed for 14 COIL high energy laser modules, it was reduced to 6 because of the weight and volume constraints of the 747 platform. In spite of this, it successfully destroyed a boosting ballistic missile at short range in 2010. The program was cancelled in 2011 because, according to then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, "The reality is that you would need a laser something like 20 to 30 times more powerful ...". In this paper it is shown how merely by putting the same number of high-energy lasers and their associated optical systems on a different platform - an airship -his concern, and related operational and cost issues, could be substantially satisfied, at the cost of a small reduction in the window available in which to engage the target. This AirShipBorne Laser (ASBL) platform is modeled on a 250 ton capacity airship being developed by Aeros Corp., the ML868, modified to cruise at 20,000 ft with a lighter payload.
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