Israel, US to fund laser that shoots down rockets

The Jerusalem Post ^ | 28 October 2003 | ASSOCIATED PRESS

[anotherview]

Oct. 28, 2003
Israel, US to fund laser that shoots down rockets
By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Israel and the U.S. are to spend at least US$57 million for development of a laser cannon that can shoot down short-range missiles, an Israeli legislator and security officials said Tuesday.

A recent Israeli delegation successfully lobbied Congress to approve the new funding package for the joint U.S.-Israeli Nautilus laser weapon project, said Israeli lawmaker Yuval Steinitz, who was part of the delegation.

Israel wants the Nautilus to help protect its northern border towns from Katyusha rockets, fired by the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbullah during Israel's 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000.

Israel claims that Hizbullah now has 11,000 rockets aimed at Israel.

Congress approved US$57 million to fund the project, and Israel will also contribute funding, Steinitz said, but could not say how much.

There is, however, no public record of congressional approval for Nautilus funding.

It may fall under the classified portion of the 2004 Defense Authorization bill, passed by Congress and signed by U.S. President George W. Bush on Sept. 30.

The laser beam system was successfully tested at the U.S. White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, in February 1996. However, since then, development of the project had been held up by skeptics in the U.S. Congress, said an Israeli security official.

New funding is now needed to transform the technology into a practical weapon, said Steinitz, who is the chairman of the parliamentary foreign affairs and defense committee.

"Now we have to make it an efficient, compact weapon that can be used in the battlefield and in the war on terrorism," Steinitz said.

The Nautilus uses a high power radar to track and lock onto the incoming projectile. Then a Mid-Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser (MIRACL), which looks like a large spotlight, shoots out an intense beam that destroys the rocket.

The White Sands test marked the first time that a rocket has been destroyed in flight by a laser beam. The laser has also proved its ability to shoot down artillery shells.

Israeli security officials said that the potential to use this technology in the war against terrorism was a major factor in convincing Congress to renew support for the project.

"If the technology is developed, it will be applicable to many other military mechanisms," said Steinitz, "It could be a central mechanism in the future battlefield." Congress also approved a further $89 million for a second joint U.S.-Israeli project, the Arrow anti-ballistic missile system, which has already entered production, Steinitz said. The system is already operational.

Also Tuesday, the Maariv daily reported that a U.S.-Israeli company has developed a gun that can fire at right angles.

According to the report, the pistol, produced by the Florida-based Corner Shot Holdings, is being tested by the Israeli military and has already been bought by a number of Special Forces around the world.

A spokesman for the Israeli branch of the company refused to comment on the report.

Pictures of the weapon show a gun composed of two parts - the front, that can swivel from side to side, containing a pistol with a color camera mounted on top, and the back section which consists of the stock, trigger and a monitor.

The unique weapon allows the soldier to remain behind cover, with only the barrel of the rifle exposed in the direction of the hostile fire, even at a sharp angle.

[Yak]

I'm sure Tiawan's defence forces are eyeing this thing, too. Everything I heard implies China's first stage of attack would involve missile barrages.

After the missiles are shot down they can point it at ChiCom ships crossing the strait.

[USAF_TSgt]

Most of the time, with Mid-Infrared wavelengths or shorter, the laser puts so much energy that even a metal body cannot dissapate the energy fast enough and the missile undergoes a phase change (i.e., it explodes as it changes from solid to gas immediately).

[USAF_TSgt]

Mirrors only reflect visible and near-infrared radiation, they, like glass, do not reflect or transmit mid- to far-infrared radiation.

[Alamo-Girl]

Indeed, the reaction ought to be interesting.

[Carry_Okie]

Is there a serviceable material that does not have an adsorption band for the incident MIRACL frequency?

[Carry_Okie]

Is there a serviceable material that does not have an adsorption band for the incident MIRACL frequency?

I know there has to be one because otherwise one couldn't make a laser. I just don't know if it, or an equivalent, is adaptable to coating a rocket body.

[USAF_TSgt]

Ahhh, the problem is keeping it (whatever material that reflects the mid-infrared) from melting from the friction as it moves through the thick lower atmosphere. Also, once you get into mid-infrared (starting at around 2.5 microns up to about 8 microns), the nature of materials changes from reflective to emissive. Most objects, especially moderately warm ones, no longer reflect energy, but emit it as well. The mid-infrared laser adds to this energy, basically adding gasoline to a fire.

[Carry_Okie]

I would think that there were some ceramic coatings that might not have too much of a problem with that, or would perhaps sluff. Then there is the idea of a gas envelope of adsorptive material that would hold the heat behind the rocket. How long would it have to evade being fried before it got to its target, given that aquistion, tracking, targeting and firing, especially on multiple incoming targets, all take time?

[USAF_TSgt]

Sorry about the delay in replying, it's been quiet a busy last few days. Your last question is very valid, as the Army (both the US and Israeli) have found out with the Patriot/PAC-III (US) and the Arrow II (Israeli) anti-ballistic missile systems. It seems that in a non-war environment (such as a first-strike or random, small, terrorist attacks), the authority to fire/engage targets must be approved at a fairly high level (two- or three-star level for US military, case-in-point is the CAOC in UAE and Saudi Arabia). The military, and the civilians who control the military, must decide who will approve launching these missiles (for PAC-III and Arrow II) or firing these lasers (in the case of this article). The technology for tracking, targeting, and firing against multiple incoming targets is already available, and employed in a lot of systems (all modern jets, PAC-III, Arrow II, and others). Acquistion shouldn't be a problem because almost all missles used would have to get fairly high (unless it's a cruise missile that skims the surface) to get enough range on the reentry/return side of a ballistic path. As for the ceramic coatings, the problem is the more weight you add for fairly heavy coatings is less weight for warhead and guidance systems, and smaller ranges. You raise good questions, and a lot of this must be worked out before these systems get operationally deployed (especially in the US).

[Carry_Okie]

You raise good questions, and a lot of this must be worked out before these systems get operationally deployed (especially in the US).

I guess you can tell, I was once peripherally involved in the business (I worked at Avantek). I knew about the multiple targeting capability, but IIRC the numbers were ten to fifteen simultaneous targets. One wonders about the ability of the radar to distingush hundreds of simultaneous targets with decent depth of field.

To me those were obvious questions before plunking down the money for a pricey system that will itself be a prime target for terrorist ground attack. One has to ask whether going the route of an expensive and supposedly capable defense is worth the risk compared to the demonstrated willingness to use massive retaliation, ESPECIALLY when it's so easy to smuggle weapons into the US inside cargo containers. My thinking is that we should be concentrating on that problem instead.

I am reminded that somehow Andrews AFB couldn't get a couple of guys with a Stinger deployed in time to stop an incoming passenger jet with over an hour of warning between the time of the first highjacking and the time of the hit on the Pentagon. After spending trillions on defense, that one still burns me.

[USAF_TSgt]

I was about to ask what your background was, you are very knowledgable.
I have a question (unrelated to lasers or infrared) for you: how do you get the little saying after your name in the threads?
And your concern for radar to distinguish hundreds of targets, as well as a couple of good guys with Stingers (especially when I thought the White House had them already), is great. Now that you mention it, the fact that we had all that time and STILL couldn't get our act together is very disturbing.

[Carry_Okie]

Thank you for your detailed responses, it gave me considerable insight into the thinking in defense procurement. I know the guys who dream the stuff up aren't stupid, but then neither is their management, which doesn't necessarily have defense of the United States as their first priority. Frankly, I think we far over-emphasize big buck projects over bullets, spare parts, training manuals, body armor, gloves... You know, things that help grunts win wars.

how do you get the little saying after your name in the threads?

On the posting page where you input the text for your reply, you will find another, single line box just above the posting buttons. The label for the box reads: "Tag line (optional, printed after your name on post):"

You can keep multiple tag lines in the system and invoke them by clearing the box and typing in the first letter of the tagline you want for a particular situation.

And your concern for radar to distinguish hundreds of targets, as well as a couple of good guys with Stingers (especially when I thought the White House had them already), is great.

It's a variation on the old chaff trick. Fill the sky with a cloud of floating junk and shoot through it with lots of cheap dumb weapons. When the missile gets close it homes in before the defending system can respond. I'm not saying it would work, I'm suggesting that if I were in the position of not having a lot of money to respond to this big-buck laser, that I would be thinking along the lines of "how do I use what I've got in order to make this monster a waste of money."

Now that you mention it, the fact that we had all that time and STILL couldn't get our act together is very disturbing.

As a taxpayer, it really pisses me off. What are we paying these people for if they can't shoot down a loaded bus with more than ten minutes notice?