Will it work? Yes.
Is it practical? No.
Could you ever pay me enough to work on a chemical oxygen iodine laser (coil) in the confined space of an airtight plane? HELL NO!

The ABL can only get missiles in their launch phase.... so you HAVE to have the ABL in line of sight of your enemies launch area at the time of launch... now most enimies will probably not be kind enough to tell us "we are going to launch a nuke at you at 4:30 am, just so you know"

The last laser I worked on was a 1.5 kW 20 million $ laser built by TRW to be the pointing laser for the ABL (serial # 0001)- That was scary enough! You accidentally put a finger in the beam path and you get a trip to the hospital.... just diffuse scatter could blind you....

I talked to someone that worked on the ABL, he couldnt tell me its power, but he did say if you were standing in the way when it went off, there wouldnt even be ashes left of you.....
Just the projection lens of the ABL costs huge amounts and takes months to fabricate....then it is mounted on the front of a plane and gets contaminated by whatever the plane flies thru.... I cannot imagine it is good for more than a few shots....

I think it is a collosal boondoggle, but it has led to development of efficient ND:YAG lasers at 1.319 microns, which is a good thing for me...

I again say "You could NOT pay me enough to work on the ABL" Iodine gas eats holes in your skin and lungs.....

Ok I guess a few million dollars MIGHT entice me but I would need to have my pants cleaned after every work shift! :)

Just my opinion, but I am pretty experienced when it comes to high power lasers..... The ABL is cool, but just not practical....