Posted on 02/14/2014 8:49:55 AM PST by Former Fetus
An Israeli state-owned arms company developing a laser-based missile shield that evokes “Star Wars” style technology says its deployment over the country is closer to becoming a reality.
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems said development of the system was advanced enough for the company to be comfortable with publicizing it at this week’s Singapore Airshow, which is Asia’s largest aerospace and defense exhibition.
The laser technology behind the missile shield called Iron Beam is not that far removed from fiction.
“It’s exactly like what you see in Star Wars,” said company spokesman Amit Zimmer. “You see the lasers go up so quickly like a flash and the target is finished.”
(Excerpt) Read more at timesofisrael.com ...
Put the system on a satellite.
In synchronous orbit.
Over Mecca and Medina.
Do what is necessary to improve the IQ and morals of the world.
I would rather see it reprogram the missiles and send it back to where it was launched from
If it can do this in nanoseconds for incoming missiles, should be easy to use it in nanoseconds for terrorists trying to cross the border to kidnap Israeli soldiers.
Sounds like a defense company fishing for more R&D money. Lasers are relatively easy to defeat.
I guess my question is, which costs more - firing the laser or the rocket it is fired at.
Wrong!
The actual shot costs pennies. The cost is in research, development, and testing.
Defensive armament is almost always more expensive than offensive armament. Castle wall/gate vs catapult/battering ram, armor vs sword, shield vs arrow, kevlar vest+helmet vs 7.62 , beefed up troop carrier (forget the name) VS IED, and on and on and on.
Now if you start talking offensive weapons to counteract offensive weapons you start to turn the tide: SAM vs Aircraft, Torpedo vs Ship, etc... remember the old adage: the best defense is a good offense. So I’d like to see them keep the defense aspects and use it to reach out a bit further to say hello.
What's so hard about decoys, or spinning and coating a warhead?
Have the Israelis developed a laser an order of magnitude more powerful than what we were prototyping five years ago? One that will be effective in a low overcast?
I don’t think it costs pennies. Chemical lasers are pretty expensive to fire.
I definitely thought the wrong way. The right question is the value of the target defended vs. the potential to saturate the defense with cheap ordnance.
I hope the fire control system can pick out the rounds headed for high risk areas, vs. low risk areas.
.....It works by shooting laser beams at targets which are heated so rapidly they disintegrate in an instant.
I call BS.
The article says they are using solid state lasers -ie electric lasers.
Depends on what “an instant”. Is.
Orrrrrr, Israel could just destroy all the threats within shooting distance. Thanks Former Fetus.
COOL! We need that on our nuclear ships!
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