Israel on Wednesday announced that it used a lower-powered version of its laser defence system Iron Beam for the first time last year, intercepting dozens of aerial targets, including unmanned vehicles, that were launched by Hezbollah in Lebanon.
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In video footage reportedly taken in October and released by the Israeli defence ministry, what appears to be an Iron Beam laser can be seen targeting flying fixed-wing drones before shooting them from the sky.
It was Israel’s first known use of directed-energy weapons (DEWs) in real combat and the system is expected to enter service later this year.
As cheap unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly challenging existing air defence systems, laser weapons might have an important role to play. They are well suited for anti-drone operations, while their weaknesses are less significant against small, slow and low-flying targets.
Many countries have been working on similar air defence laser weapons. German and British projects have been going on for years, while Russia and the US have deployed laser weapons in Ukraine and Iraq, respectively.
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Turkey-made products are known to have operated in Libya, while India announced in April that its ambitious Surya directed-energy weapon would be ready by 2027.
China, a major global drone producer, is equally dedicated to the development of anti-drone weaponry.