This is great, but I am not sure how it is to be used. The test was successful in part because they knew where the missile would be coming (generally). If this system is to be effective, the AL-1A would have to orbit in the general area in anticipation of a launch. Perhaps this would be better on a ship?

I don't know how much time we would have for an ICBM to strike after launch, but in the movies it is between 30-45m. That would be enough time to get the AL-1 up in the air and possibly into position. SAC B-52 crews can be in the air 15 minutes after the alarm going off. The USAF/DARPA will not disclose the range of laser, rightfully so. Plans exist to build 8 of these aircraft, and if they were stationed at strategic points around the U.S., I can see the use.

The biggest threat is not from a launch in Russia, Iran or North Korea, but from a container ship in the Gulf of Mexico or off of the coast. A ship like this could launch a tactical rocket into the atmosphere and detonate, with the intent of damage caused from a high-altitude EMP. Such a strike would send the United States back two-hundred years in technological capability. Only stringent maritime patrol and monitoring can help prevent this and see it coming. Maintaining a SAC-like posture of having these aircraft airborne all of the time in areas that could field such a plan would be the only recourse. I have a feeling we'll need more than 8 aircraft for this strategy.

That would be the exact scope of such an attack. A single strike by a nuclear weapon, to the continental U.S., would only unleash the nuclear genie, sitting underground in the Mid-West. If a weapon could be detonated in the atmosphere, above FL300, the higher, the better, an EMP would radiate out in a spread spectrum pattern for hundreds of miles. Any nation's infrastructure would be destroyed within minutes. Fall-out and the actual blast would only cover the area approximate to the blast radius. EMP damage would fry every piece of solid-state electronics for miles.

I would make efforts to place this type of laser on a ship, perhaps an AEGIS-class frigate. A nuclear-powered vessel would be best in the manner that it can provide ample power to a chemical laser. The resource overhead of keeping a frigate on station is much less concentrated than an aircraft. The U.S. Naval fleet is still the most powerful on the globe. Providing we keep our vessels out of unfriendly ports, the ships will be fine. No terrorist organization, or navy will challenge an AEGIS frigate on the open sea. I am not a naval expert, but a former colleague did some work on the AEGIS system and described a fascinating set of capabilities. I am glad, that it is not my job to take-on any AEGIS system.