The Airborne Laser has taken another step forward in its long slog off the drawing board and into the Pentagon’s arsenal.

The first-of-its-kind 747-400F this month completed a series of low-power test flights, using onboard infrared sensors to locate “an instrumented target board” on an Air Force NC-135E aircraft. Once the Airborne Laser(ABL) found the target, two solid-state illuminator lasers tracked the target and assessed atmospheric conditions–the later function being key to plotting a path to the target for the weapons laser. Since the high-energy COIL (chemical oxygen iodine laser) weapons system has yet to be installed, a low-power surrogate laser fired at the NC-135E.

The accomplishment, lead contractor Boeing said Friday, is proof positive that the ABL’s battle management and beam control/fire control systems can support the plane’s ultimate mission: intercepting a ballistic missile and destroying it in flight.

If all goes according to plan, and that’s a big if, the ABL with a fully installed and tested high-energy laser will go up against a soaring ballistic missile in a test in 2009.

Apple is expected to unveil revamped iPods at a special event on Wednesday in San Francisco.

The Internet is buzzing with speculation sparked by enigmatic Apple event invitations bearing an image of a silhouetted iPod-wearing figure dancing above the words “The beat goes on.”

“It’s an iPod refresh,” principle analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley told AFP. “That is what the buzz is.”