The Airborne Laser is a modified Boeing 747-400F freighter equipped with a high energy chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL). The ABL mission is to detect, track, target and destroy ballistic missiles aimed at the United States. Air Force scientists invented the COIL laser which uses a chemical reaction, rather than electrical energy, to create laser light. The amount of light produced measures in the millions of watts which enable the laser to destroy targets at very long ranges.