Results in the air-breathing propulsion experiments with a parabolic light craft anda self-made UV-preionized 100 J TEA CO_2 laser device are presented.Air disturbance and thespectrum of the plasma after the interaction of pulsed laser radiation with the light craft werestudied.It was found that the focal length of the parabolic light craft had a significant effect onthe air-disturbance.Two shock waves were detected for the longer focal length,while only oneshock wave detected for the short focal length.The spectrum of the laser-induced plasma,thedistribution of the characteristic lines,and the temporal behaviors of the air plasma were studiedin detail.The results showed that,the evolution of the laser-induced plasma lasted 20 μs,and theplasma spectrum would reach the maximum intensity at 7 μs. Results in the air-breathing propulsion experiments with a parabolic light craft anda self-made UV-preionized 100 J TEA CO 2 laser device are presented. Air disturbance and the spectrum of the plasma after the interaction of pulsed laser radiation with the light craft were staged. It was found that the focal length of the parabolic light craft had a significant effect on the air-disturbance. Two shock waves were detected for the longer focal length, while only only one shock waves detected for the short focal length. The spectrum of the laser-induced plasma thedistribution of the characteristic lines, and the temporal behaviors of the air plasma were studiedin detail. The results showed that, the evolution of the laser-induced plasma lasted 20 μs, and theplasma spectrum would reach the maximum intensity at 7 μs.