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

Hydrogen fluoride laser

The hydrogen fluoride laser is an infrared chemical laser. It is capable of delivering continuous output power in the megawatt range.Hydrogen fluoride lasers operate at the wavelength of 2.7-2.9 µm. This wavelength is absorbed by the atmosphere, effectively attenuating the beam and reducing its...

, a type of chemical laser

Chemical laser

A chemical laser is a laser that obtains its energy from a chemical reaction. Chemical lasers can achieve continuous wave output with power reaching to megawatt levels...

.

The MIRACL laser first became operational in 1980. It can produce over a megawatt of output for up to 70 seconds, making it the most powerful continuous wave (CW) laser in the US. 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 a facility (32.632°N 106.332°W) in the White Sands Missile Range

White Sands Missile Range

White Sands Missile Range is a rocket range of almost in parts of five counties in southern New Mexico. The largest military installation in the United States, WSMR includes the and the WSMR Otera Mesa bombing range...

 in New Mexico.

The beam size in the resonator is about 21 cm (8.3 in) high and 3 cm (1.2 in) wide. The beam is then reshaped to a 14 x 14 cm (5.5 in x 5.5 in) square.

In 1997, amid much controversy, MIRACL was tested against a US Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 satellite

Satellite

In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

 in orbit

Orbit

In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...

at a distance of 432 km (268 mi). The satellite was disabled but the Air Force did not get the data from the satellite it had hoped for.