Evolutionary Air and Space Global Laser Engagement
The Evolutionary Air and Space Global Laser Engagement, or EAGLE for short, is a new plan being developed by the United States Air Force's Missile Defense Agency.The project is a combination of two separate missile defense efforts: the Aerospace Relay Mirror System and a new, high-altitude airship. The project is designed as a means to destroy enemy missiles before they would have the opportunity to hit targets on American soil. It involves using either ground-based, air-based or space-based lasers deflected off of a massive airship (roughly 25 times the size of the Goodyear blimp) covered in mirrors that could destroy missiles but also satellites or spacecraft in a low-earth orbit.
The first tests of the airship are scheduled to begin in 2006.