Laser Skies Over Israel

[Luis Gonzalez]

Lasers, microwaves, and the future of air defense


For decades, missile defense worked like this:

• Enemy fires cheap rockets.
• Defender launches very expensive interceptors.

That math never really worked.

Now something is changing.

Israel is deploying a new laser defense system called Iron Beam that can destroy rockets, drones, and mortars with concentrated energy instead of missiles. The cost per shot is measured in dollars, not tens of thousands. Add microwave weapons designed to fry entire drone swarms and the layered systems already protecting Israeli skies, and you start to see a very different battlefield emerging.

For years people joked about science fiction weapons.

Now they are showing up on real battlefields.

The article also looks at airborne laser projects, microwave anti drone systems, and the broader shift toward energy weapons that could completely change the economics of air defense.

Are we watching the early stages of a revolution in warfare?

Click on the link, read the full piece, and tell me what you think.

The Last Wire

[DCPatriot]

Good topic, @Luis Gonzalez

I'm still wondering about the Venezuelan military who survived the American assault to get Maduro...that they said they couldn't even get off a shot...everybody was puking and messing their pants.

They must have discovered how to control the lethality of the weapon...like an anesthesiologist.  LOL

[Luis Gonzalez]

Good topic, @Luis Gonzalez

I'm still wondering about the Venezuelan military who survived the American assault to get Maduro...that they said they couldn't even get off a shot...everybody was puking and messing their pants.

They must have discovered how to control the lethality of the weapon...like an anesthesiologist.  LOL

The US is working on project THOR, a microwave weapons system. 😳

[andy58-in-nh]

Directed-energy weapons are going to be a game changer in missile defense, and much more. The "X" video you posted displays close-range interceptions that clearly are not occurring at light speed however, leading me to surmise that they are part of the preexisting Iron Dome (short-range) Israeli missile defense network.

A ground-fired laser appears as a full-length, instantaneous beam, more like this:

 

[Smokin Joe]

Directed-energy weapons are going to be a game changer in missile defense, and much more. The "X" video you posted displays close-range interceptions that clearly are not occurring at light speed however, leading me to surmise that they are part of the preexisting Iron Dome (short-range) Israeli missile defense network.

A ground-fired laser appears as a full-length, instantaneous beam, more like this:

Note the atmospheric conditions in that image. Generally, what beam you can see from the side is only the result of light being scattered by moisture or dust in the air. In clean, dry, air, you might not see any beam at all. If you have a weapons laser sight, or even a pointer for the cat to chase, try it out. In dry clear air, you won't see the beam, only the dot. More dust or moisture in the air and you will see a beam from scattered light along the path.

[Free Vulcan]

Pew pew!

[Luis Gonzalez]

Directed-energy weapons are going to be a game changer in missile defense, and much more. The "X" video you posted displays close-range interceptions that clearly are not occurring at light speed however, leading me to surmise that they are part of the preexisting Iron Dome (short-range) Israeli missile defense network.

A ground-fired laser appears as a full-length, instantaneous beam, more like this:

Yeah. That’s why I threw a bit of a disclaimer in there. I wasn’t able to locate any “official” video.

I guess all you’d see was the actual missile blowing up. We all want Flash Goldstein… like in the image.

[andy58-in-nh]

Note the atmospheric conditions in that image. Generally, what beam you can see from the side is only the result of light being scattered by moisture or dust in the air. In clean, dry, air, you might not see any beam at all. If you have a weapons laser sight, or even a pointer for the cat to chase, try it out. In dry clear air, you won't see the beam, only the dot. More dust or moisture in the air and you will see a beam from scattered light along the path.

Oh, for sure. I have a red dot laser (Crimson Trace) on my 9mm, and when I practice outdoors on a clear sunny day, the only thing you can see is the dot on target. At night, especially when it's foggy, you can see the whole beam. 

[Luis Gonzalez]

Oh, for sure. I have a red dot laser (Crimson Trace) on my 9mm, and when I practice outdoors on a clear sunny day, the only thing you can see is the dot on target. At night, especially when it's foggy, you can see the whole beam.

That’s the way it is in every spy action movie I’VE ever seen. 

[andy58-in-nh]

That’s the way it is in every spy action movie I’VE ever seen. 

It's always dusty, foggy, misty, raining or thundering in those films during action sequences, as examples of the atmospheric "pathetic fallacy" in drama. 

[Smokin Joe]

Yeah. That’s why I threw a bit of a disclaimer in there. I wasn’t able to locate any “official” video.

I guess all you’d see was the actual missile blowing up. We all want Flash Goldstein… like in the image.

If you look at the ambient glow in the image, there is dust or moisture in the air (why it looks cloudy), and that is why the whole beam is lit. I just played with a laser sight and verified that in clear, dry, air, no beam is visible, just the terminal dot. On foggy nights, I can see the whole beam path because of the scatter from the moisture in the air. (IIRC, They use fog machines in the movies to get that effect).

[Bigun]

Oh, for sure. I have a red dot laser (Crimson Trace) on my 9mm, and when I practice outdoors on a clear sunny day, the only thing you can see is the dot on target. At night, especially when it's foggy, you can see the whole beam.

That's exactly what got those guys in Benghazi killed! They had been told there were air assets overhead and could start painting targets. The equalivent of hanging "Shoot Here" signs around their necks.

[Smokin Joe]

That's exactly what got those guys in Benghazi killed! They had been told there were air assets overhead and could start painting targets. The equalivent of hanging "Shoot Here" signs around their necks.

Set the laser, and move.

[Bigun]

Set the laser, and move.

Easier said than done in that situation.

[Smokin Joe]

Easier said than done in that situation.

No doubt. Why aren't they using IR lasers for ground missions painting targets? The back path would be a lot less, and someone with NVGs would have to be looking almost directly at the laser or at the 'dot' to see it.

[andy58-in-nh]

That's exactly what got those guys in Benghazi killed! They had been told there were air assets overhead and could start painting targets. The equalivent of hanging "Shoot Here" signs around their necks.

True. I would never use the laser at night in a real defensive situation. Trijicon night sights are sufficient.   

[DB]

Laser weapons don't have to be visible light frequencies. If there is moisture or particulates in the air it probably leaves a visible path in the atmosphere even if the light itself isn't visible to the human eye.

[Smokin Joe]

True. I would never use the laser at night in a real defensive situation. Trijicon night sights are sufficient.

There was a lot of smoke over all that, too, I'd wager.