417th Flight Test Squadron The 417th Flight Test Squadron ( 417 FLTS ) is an inactive United States Air Force squadron . It was last assigned to the 412th Operations Group , Air Force Materiel Command , stationed at Edwards Air Force Base , California . It was inactivated on 14 February 2012 . Overview . The 417th FLTS performed flight testing on Boeing YAL - 1A Airborne Laser aircraft ( ABL ) . The ABL was an airborne - directed energy weapon system . The YAL - 1A is a prototype that employs a highly - modified , 747 - 400 airframe equipped with sensors , lasers and sophisticated optics to find , track and destroy ballistic missiles in their boost , or ascent , phase . The program was terminated due to budget reductions on 14 February 2012 . The YAL - 1A Airborne Laser Test Bed aircraft was ferried to Davis Monthan AFB , Arizona where it was placed in storage by the at the Air Force ’ s Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group . History . C - 17 GLobemaster III . Established in 1989 to perform flight testing on the new C - 17 Globemaster III airlifter which was developed by McDonnell Douglas to replace the aging C - 141 Starlifter . The squadron received its first YC - 17A ( T - 1 ) in late 1991 ( 87 - 0025 ) . Five more C - 17A production models ( 88 - 0265 , 88 - 0266 ( P - 1 , P - 2 , LotI ) ) , ( 89 - 1189 - 89 - 1192 ( Lot II , P - 3 , P - 4 , P - 5 ) ) participated in extensive flight testing and evaluation . Testing was completed and the first production model was delivered to the 437th Airlift Wing , Charleston Air Force Base , South Carolina on 14 July 1993 . The first C - 17 squadron was operational ( 17th Airlift Squadron ) in January 1995 and the squadron was inactivated on 1 October and C - 17 support was transferred to the 418th Flight Test Squadron . YAL - 1A Airborne Laser . Was re - activated in March 2006 for ground and flight testing of the YAL - 1A Airborne Laser aircraft . The ABL is a component of Missile Defense Agency ' s boost - phase segment designed to destroy enemy missiles soon after they are launched to provide defense of the United States , its international allies , and its deployed troops . In February 2007 , the ABL began a series of flight tests , which included the first in - flight firing of the TILL targeting laser at a simulated target , in March 2007 . This was followed by flight tests of the BILL illuminating laser and tests of TILL , BILL and a surrogate high - energy laser ( SHEL ) low - power laser . Installation of the six COIL laser modules was completed in February 2008 . The first firing ( ' first light ' ) of the COIL laser took place in September 2008 . The test lasted less than a second and was followed by further ground tests of increased duration and power . In November 2008 , the COIL laser was fired and focused through the beam control / fire control system . A high energy laser aboard the aircraft was successfully fired from the Edwards Air Force Base in August 2009 . The YAL 1A laser travels at the speed of light to destroy ballistic missiles in their boost phase of flight . In January 2010 , the high energy laser was fired to intercept a test Missile Alternative Range Target Instrument ( MARTI ) . In February 2010 , the US MDA and Boeing jointly tested the speed , precision and breakthrough potential of directed energy weapons deployed in the ABL test bed . In 2010 , the ALTB successfully knocked a “ threat representative ” missile out of flight from a distance of 50 miles . This resulted in the program receiving an additional $ 40 million in funding even though the Secretary of Defense himself admitted it wasn ’ t realistic . However , in that same year the device failed two tests in a row . In 2011 funding was eliminated as the program was eight years behind schedule and it had a staggeringly large budget of $ 500 million per year .