“It’s a game-changer” — declared Gen. Yaniv Rotem, head of Israel’s Defense Ministry’s (IDF) Directorate of Research and Development, in a Jerusalem Post interview profiling the county’s newest breakthrough laser targeting technology.
The IDF unveiled what’s being described as an aerial ‘laser sword’ which can take out multiple types of airborne threats such as drones, rockets and anti-tank missiles. This after a decade-long program focusing on defensive measures using lasers, and amid a broader global trend which has seen the United States, Russia and China tout its own laser systems, most currently used by naval vessels.
Defense Minister Naftali Bennett on Wednesday boasted that the breakthrough “makes the security apparatus more lethal, more powerful and more advanced,” as the IDF plans to integrate its laser technology into current systems. “This technology enables the development of highly effective operational systems that will serve as an additional layer of defense to secure the State of Israel by air, land and sea,” a ministry statement said
But like with other recent claims of powerful laser weapons, such as out of Chinese defense companies, the burden of ‘proof’ over whether the lasers are indeed powerful and effective enough to actually make intercepts is another thing and remains to be seen in action.
Citing a top official, The Jerusalem Post notes the program has grown successful over many painstaking years: “The ministry has been working for more than 10 years on powerful laser technology to enable the development of platforms to intercept a variety of threats, he said.” – read more