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TEL AVIV: Israel recently tested a laser weapon system that successfully knocked drones, mortars and rockets out of the sky in what a senior Israeli officer called a “game-changer” for ground-based airborne defense.
“The laser is a game-changer thanks to its easily operated system and significant economic advantages,” said Brig. Gen. Yaniv Rotem, head of the Israeli military’s research and development department.
The test comes as Israel sees growing threats from Iranian UAVs, which experts fear could be forward deployed to nearby Iran-backed groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon. Rotem said that after further development, the “plan is to station multiple laser transmitters along Israel’s borders throughout the next decade” to compliment Israel’s famed Iron Dome missile defense system.
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Israel has been working on counter-UAV lasers for years, proving an ability to shoot down drones last year in a small scale tests (after which Rotem also described the tech as “game-changing.”) But this was the first test for other the other threats like mortars.
Defense sources here said the US Department of Defense had been kept abreast of the tests’ success and could play a role in the full production of the system, which is made by Israeli defense firms Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Elbit Systems.
Announcing the plans for full-scale production, Israel’s defense minister, Benny Gantz, praised the recent tests as a “breakthrough on a global scale.”
https://breakingdefense.com/2022/04/beyond-killing-drones-israeli-laser-knocks-mortars-out-of-the-sky-military/