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.
The trials were carried out over a number of days last week under the leadership of the ministry’s research and development unit, together with Elbit Systems and the IAF.
According to a Monday announcement from officials, Israel's Defense Ministry has teamed up with a contractor called Elbit Systems Ltd to build the first airborne laser weapon capable of blasting drones out of the sky, as well as other flying targets, according to an early report from Reuters.
In Israel, a drone was shot down with a 100-kW prototype airborne laser. Officials also expect the prototype to be available in 2025 after a successful test.
The laser system has yet to be named, but it may be linked into Israel's multi-tier air defence network, which already includes the Iron Dome system for intercepting short-range rockets. The new laser weapon might possibly be integrated into the David's Sling and Arrow ballistic missile defence systems.
According to a statement by Brigadier-General Yaniv Rotem of Israel's ministry of research and development division, early tests of the laser took place while flying aboard light aircraft and successfully brought down multiple drones at ranges of around half a mile (1 km). "As far as we know, we are the first (nation) — or at the very least, we are among the first —that have tried and succeeded (at) such an...interception,"
According to a Senior Official called Oren Sabag, Elbit also manufactures C-Music, an aerial defence technology designed to "blind" approaching missiles before they can target aircraft. According to the source, the new laser weapon would use tracking methods similar to C-and Music's destroy targets using a quick heating process that will set fire to airborne targets in "a few seconds."
Rotem noted that a 100-kW prototype with a 12.5-mile (20-kilometer) range may be ready in three to four years, implying that a fully functioning vehicle could take much longer.
In addition to Elbit, Israel's military ministry and state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd are working together on the creation of a ground-based laser weapon capable of destroying airborne targets.
According to Israel's ministry, they would have a range of five to six miles (8 to 10 kilometres) and would be available during or before 2025.
The United States Air Force is developing its own laser defence system.
The airborne laser system, of course, will have the distinct benefit of providing tactical support from above the clouds, making it weather-independent. This is a significant advantage because inclement weather can impair the efficiency of ground-based lasers, which is why the US military is also developing an aerial laser defence system.
The US Air Force said in February that it will receive the first delivery of significant components for a tactical laser weapon prototype that month. The weapon was supposed to be installed on fighter jets, and the final components were supposed to arrive in July.
This is the latest development in the Air Force's Laboratory Self Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) programme, which began in 2015 with the goal of bringing these once-future sci-fi weapons to the battlefield.
It's no surprise that Israel was the first, or at least among the first, to successfully test one of the most advanced weapons ever devised, given its long-standing military cooperation with the United States.
