The Israeli army releases a video showing a laser intercepting rockets and drones. The Ministry of Defense intends to deploy this technology from 2022.
Lasers will make their entry into armed conflicts. This is in any case the wish of the Israeli government, which wants to believe in this technology to defend itself against missiles and drones targeting its territory.
On Thursday, April 14, the Israeli Prime Minister posted on his Twitter account the video of the first successful test of a laser defense system. We see the famous machine, positioned from a station in the desert, successively destroying mortars, rockets and combat drones. Theatrical background music, epic shots and cheering military personnel are all shot to impress the viewer.
In a statement, the Israeli Ministry of Defense calls this technology ” tool that is effective, precise, easy to use and significantly less expensive than any other existing means of protection. The laser will be integrated as a complementary arsenal to the iron dome nickname given to the shield deployed by the country to intercept rockets before they strike.
” It may sound like science fiction, but it’s real Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tweeted. ” Iron Beam intercepts are quiet, they’re invisible, and they only cost about $3.50 each” , he added. Cost is obviously an important factor for Tsahal, the Israeli army.
The test comes a year after the 11-day Israel-Palestine war, in which Gaza’s ruling Hamas fired more than 4,000 rockets. According to the government, 75% to 90% of the projectiles had been intercepted, but the interceptor device costs tens of thousands of dollars with each shot.
Deployment around borders over the next decade
Yaniv Rotem, head of military R&D at the Defense Ministry, tells The Jerusalem Post that “ the laser is capable of intercepting a variety of aerial threats at difficult ranges “. According to him, ” the ground system will be able to destroy targets up to 10 kilometers away with a laser [dont la puissance] goes beyond 100 kilowatts. »
” The goal is to deploy the laser systems around Israel’s borders within the next decade Defense Secretary Benny Gantz told Associated Press reporters.
Israel is not the only country to invest in defense lasers, but will be the first to integrate it into its active arsenal. Both the United States and China have already conducted trials.
The disadvantage of a laser is that it is no longer as effective in periods of low visibility, including during heavy cloud cover. For this reason, the Israeli army also intends to mount the system on an aircraft in order to shoot above the clouds, but the device still has a few years of development ahead of it.