Posted on 07/01/2021 1:20:52 PM PDT by SJackson
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.
Would seem to have possibilities for land and water use as well.
” The cost of firing a laser beam for an interception will cost around $2000.”
How was this calculated?
No idea, my experience with lasers is teasing cats. I would assume it includes some development costs. Maybe some components are one time use.
“Would seem to have possibilities for land and water use as well.”
Article: 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.
Better technology doesn’t scare Israel’s enemies. They think they can outlast Israel’s leftist populace, just as the N. Vietnamese outlasted the USA’s Democrats in the 1970’s.
I wonder about the energy requirements for this 100kW laser. I’m sure this is pulsed energy, not continuous, but still, I would expect the power supply to be fairly robust, likely too robust to be carried in a light aircraft.
The amount of fuel used to fire the laser is probably expensive, because you’re having to immediately generate so much heat and power in a single shot to kill any missiles coming in.
I was thinking ground to ground or ship to ship. Would think it could be effective with Iranian speedboat swarms.
I only know about Phased plasma rifles in the 40-watt range.
Probably a chemically fueled deuterium fluoride laser. Deuterium is moderately expensive
Works good on jumping spiders too.
Still cheaper than a missile. They can keep thousands of shots worth of fuel in a single warehouse.
“The amount of fuel used to fire the laser is probably expensive, because you’re having to immediately generate so much heat and power in a single shot to kill any missiles coming in.”
About $10 worth.
I don’t know how the $2,000 per intercept was calculated, or whether that number amortizes the sunken costs. I worked on GBR (”Great big radar”) in 1983. The amortized cost of the radar was calculated at $5,000 per pulse! It was fielded and is at work in Kwajalein even now, keeping track of space debris and scoring missile tests.
Yes, no way the “light aircraft” could generate or store enough electrical energy for non-chemically charged lasers.
Yeah, airborne lasers are carried in a large transport/jumbo jet type aircraft, not a light aircraft or fighter jet.
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