MIRACL

MIRACL, or Mid-Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser, is a directed energy weapon developed by the US Navy. It is a deuterium fluoride laser, a type of chemical laser.

SeaLite Beam Director, commonly used as the output for the MIRACL.

The MIRACL laser first became operational in 1980.^[1] It can produce over a megawatt of output for up to 70 seconds,^[2] making it the most powerful continuous wave (CW) laser in the US.^[3]: 5 Its original goal was to be able to track and destroy anti-ship cruise missiles, but in later years it was used to test phenomenologies associated with national anti-ballistic and anti-satellite laser weapons. Originally tested at a contractor facility in California, as of the later 1990s and early 2000s, it was located at the former MAR-1 facility (32.632°N 106.332°W / 32.632; -106.332) in the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.^[4]

The beam size in the resonator is about 21 by 3 cm (8.3 by 1.2 in) wide. The beam is then reshaped to a 14 cm × 14 cm (5.5 in × 5.5 in) square.^[2]

Amid much controversy in October 1997, MIRACL was tested against MSTI-3, a US Air Force satellite at the end of its original mission in orbit^[5] at a distance of 432 km (268 mi).^[6] MIRACL failed during the test and was damaged^[7]: 1 and the Pentagon claimed mixed results for other portions of the test. A second, lower-powered chemical laser was able to temporarily blind the MSTI-3 sensors during the test.^{[8]: 170 [9]: 7}