Israel has once again reminded us that we should thank our lucky stars that the Jewish state is on our side. In the “What Have You Done For Us Lately” Department, Israel has just completed tests of its new high-power laser system that, installed on a civilian aircraft, can shoot down drones. It promises to be what is called a game-changer. The story of this remarkable advance is here: “Israel successfully downs targets using airborne laser system,” by Anna Ahronheim, Jerusalem Post, June 21, 2021:
The Defense Ministry has successfully carried out a series of interceptions to shoot down drones with a powerful airborne laser system installed on a civilian light aircraft….
During the trials that were carried out over the sea, the high-powered laser fired from a civilian Cessna plane destroyed the unmanned targets at differing ranges and altitudes.
According to the Defense Ministry, Israel is perhaps the first country in the world to have been able to use such laser technology on an aircraft to intercept targets in an operational simulation….
The fully automated energy system uses the laser to destroy a target while flying above the clouds, he said, adding that the “powerful and precise system” can intercept the target “regardless of weather conditions.
Once a target passes through the area of interest, the system can be directed at any part of it with very high accuracy. It locks on and remains locked on until the target is downed….
The ground system will also be able to destroy targets at a range of eight to 10 km. with a 100 kW laser, Rotem said. The ministry is aiming for an operational system by 2024 to be deployed at the Gaza border area for shooting down rockets, he said.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz congratulated MAFAT, Elbit and the IAF on the technological breakthrough.
“Today, you have brought us closer to yet another important milestone in the development of the multitiered defense array of the State of Israel, and it is significant both in terms of cost effectiveness and defense capabilities,” he said.
“The laser system will add a new layer of protection at greater ranges and in facing a variety of threats: securing the State of Israel while saving costs of interception,” Gantz said. “I am confident that Israel’s defense industry will succeed in this important development program, and I will work personally together with the entire defense establishment to ensure its success.”
The Defense Ministry hopes that the airborne system will further increase the effectiveness of Israel’s air defenses against existing and future threats. It is expected to complement Israel’s multitiered air-defense array, which includes the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow missile interceptors….
The lasers can cover a much wider area and lock onto, and then destroy, unmanned vehicles passing through that area. The cost of firing a laser beam for an interception will cost around $2000. Meanwhile, the price of launching an Iron Dome interception missile is between $40,000 and $60,000. Consider how may tens of millions of dollars the IDF spent on Iron Dome missiles in the recent war against Hamas; Hamas aimed 4300 not-very-expensive rockets at Israel; about 600 fell short, leaving 3700 that entered Israeli airspace; Iron Dome missiles managed to intercept 90%. The cost of such a defense is becoming an increasingly urgent issue as large-scale attacks become more frequent and the expense of interception skyrockets.
The laser system will potentially save the IDF hundreds of millions of dollars; it is also more precise in its targeting, and can lock onto a target much closer to its launch, as compared to the Iron Dome.
Israel keeps providing evidence of how creatively it responds to every military challenge its enemies present. In three years, it will have ready an anti-missile and anti-drone system that will cost 1/20th of what such a defense does at present. And Israel will share this laser beam technology – as it always has done with its every military advance in the past – with the U.S.
Be afraid, Ismail Haniyeh and Yahyah Sinwar. Be afraid, Hassan Nasrallah, Ebrahim Raisi and Ayatollah Khamenei, be very afraid. Once those Israeli weapons scientists focus their attention on building new weapons systems, there seems to be no obstacle they cannot in time overcome. Now they’ve reached the “breakthrough” of laser-beam weapons, capable of being fired both from the ground and from civilian light planes flying above the clouds. What’s next to come, from the creative geniuses at Israel Aerospace Industries, Elbit Systems, and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems? We’re on the edge of our seats.
Shirley Ann says
Thank you to Israel, you never lose sight of the Enemy. I miss the close relationship between Israel & President Trump’s America, they were a Winning Combination.
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mortimer says
Congratulations to the engineers who developed this discriminate, moral weapon.
Hugh Fitzgerald raises the excellent point about the incredible WASTE OF RESOURCES that has been the result of the Pally madness and by the misguided countries that support it.
Weak, frail, naive Bribed-man is encouraging the next round of Intifada-terrorism. Susan Rice and Obama (notable anti-Semites) are enabling the terrorists from behind the curtain.
Tony Naim says
Israel is going out of its way to build defensive weapons, taking the extra mile to restrain itself on the use of its potent offensive capabilities,
Mostly to limit civilian casualties in war.
While it continues to be surrounded by savage wolves, Those weapon systems will never be able to address the underlying hateful Judeophobic and Christophobic ideology inherent in Islamic Sharia, an ideology capable to regenerate itself after each and every defeat, unless it is abolished and outlawed in every nation on earth.
The laws of Dhimmitude in Islamic Sharia, well defined and clearly stated, establish the supremacy of Muslims over Jews and Christians.
Raja says
Israel has proven that future war-preparedness must be high tech. Like the recent war (most probable) unleashed by China through corona, we must be prepared for any eventuality with technological up gradation. .The more the futuristic weapons up the sleeve the better for any nation!
Israel and the West will continue to lead.
HugoHackenbush says
Wonder if the next development will be a system that detonates the explosives strapped to suicide bombers at a distance (say a few kilometers).
gravenimage says
Hugo, remote detonation of suicide bomb vests already exists–used when the one wearing the vest is either unwilling or unwitting–as, for example, with children or the developmentally disabled. I’m not sure what distance it can operate at. Often cell phone technology is used for this.
jimjfox says
Again, excellent news from Israel which proves why Islamic countries hate the Jewish state.
Israelis are vastly more intelligent than 99.999% of Muslims!
Beneath the Veil of Consciousness says
Unfortunately, it’s not quite ready for prime time what with all the multiple rockets being fired at once. Apparently, it takes too long to focus on and destroy each rocket.
Their hope is that they can bring the production costs down to a point where multiple lasers can be used at once.
In the mean time, where is the Biden administration with demands to Iran to repay and compensate for the Muslim inspired murders and destruction? CRICKETS.
DavidR says
It strikes me as slightly odd that good news from around the World now includes the announcement of a high powered laser weapon. However these are the oddest times I can remember. By odd I mean the same old problems, but suddenly and noticeably ratcheted up for a multitude of reasons all overlapping one another. Covid, the conflicting government responses and social isolation seemed to have been the final nudge for millions who were already standing on the edge of a cliff. And it seems they all fell into one of a handful of Hells. High powered laser weapons help keep Israelites from being dragged into one of those hells, an older one.
gravenimage says
David, the good guys having superior defensive weapons (or not) has been an issue for millenia. The specific weaponry varies, but the basic issue is not new.
gravenimage says
Israel’s High-Powered Laser System A ‘Breakthrough’
…………….
Good to hear!
Jewcat says
I really want Israel to develop the Return to Sender interception capability. I think it’s just a matter of time.
RegT says
I thought that too, Jewcat, but we know that the muslims will put their launchers right next to a hospital, school, or similar place so that Israel can be condemned because the destruction of the launcher causes some collateral damage – to innocents, of course, seldom to muslims terrorists.
gravenimage says
Grimly true, Reg.
Jerome from Layton says
There is also an RF system that can disrupt the electronics in multiple drones. Like bug spray.