Looks like FedEx won’t be adding lasers to its airplanes

The image was taken by BENOIT DOPPAGNE/BELGA/AFP.

The FAA may have made a whoopsie. Remember when the US aviation authority suggested that FedEx might be able to use a laser to destroy missiles? The proposal is not moving forward at this time, the FAA told the news agency on Tuesday.

Before you say that the FAA wouldn't allow a private company to put a laser beam on their airplanes, you should know that we're not talking about the kind of high-energy solid state lasers that can literally blast.

FedEx had a proposal for anInfrared Laser Countermeasure System, a fancy name for what is effectively a high-power laser pointer that blinds incoming missiles before they hit. The US has been exploring ways to protect airliners from missile strikes for a while now, particularly given the proliferation of cheap shoulder launched surface-to-air missile systems, and those sorts of laser systems looked to be an effective but expensive option.

In 2006 FedEx tested out one of the different types. Here is a close-up of a laser.

Noupscale is a file onchorusasset.com.

More than 1,500 aircraft, including large and small fixed-wing, rotary-wing, and tilt-rotor platforms, are protected by these systems.

The image is of Northrop Grumman.

FedEx added a laser to its airplanes, but it doesn't seem like any US commercial airplanes have installed the tech yet.

It is not clear who FedEx was hoping to attach to its planes, why the FAA decided to move forward this month, or why the FAA stopped it now.