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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.
The MIRACL laser first became operational in 1980.Template:R It can produce over a megawatt of output for up to 70 seconds,Template:R making it the most powerful continuous wave (CW) laser in the US.Template:R 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 (Template:Coord) in the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.Template:R
The beam size in the resonator is about Template:Convert wide. The beam is then reshaped to a Template:Convert square.Template:R
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 orbitTemplate:R at a distance of Template:Convert.Template:R MIRACL failed during the test and was damagedTemplate:R 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.Template:RTemplate:R