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Iron Beam: Israel's first operational anti drone laser system
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Re: Iron Beam: Israel's first operational anti drone laser system
#212From Rafael’s site: https://www.rafael.co.il/system/iron-beam/ 100kW laser is nothing to joke about, but seems a good application for anti drone tasks. Fiber lasers are pretty snazzy.
from what I understand, problem with drones is first of all detection
Re: Iron Beam: Israel's first operational anti drone laser system
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
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> seeing kids shot at intentionally from drones Anytime somebody makes a claim about a drone operating a firearm, you should be extremely skeptical. There's a reason everyone uses explosive drones, not "drone with a machine gun". Small flying machines trying to fire off rounds doesn't work out. > submarine launched drones throwing incendiary munitions at a flotilla Per the Greek coastguard, someone left a lit joint b…
whenever you see someone making the claim that a gun won't work on an aircraft, I urge you to look at our entire aviation history of vehicles with guns strapped on. Planes, helicopters, jet-packs, 'manned platforms', whatever your fancy.
we're not talking about glocks ductaped to DJIs here, and all of these mysterious engineer efforts that 'just doesn't work out' are hurdles that man has faced and conquered before.
What I would suggest is that if anyone trying to give you a technical reason that ends in "It just doesn't work" they are probably unprepared to accurately brief you on the topic.
Re: Iron Beam: Israel's first operational anti drone laser system
#214From Rafael’s site: https://www.rafael.co.il/system/iron-beam/ 100kW laser is nothing to joke about, but seems a good application for anti drone tasks. Fiber lasers are pretty snazzy.
from what I understand, problem with drones is first of all detection
Well there's drones, then there's prop driven cheap cruise missiles.
I think we're talking the second.
Re: Iron Beam: Israel's first operational anti drone laser system
#215Earlier quoted context omitted.
Which will happen because it always happens
Then when that happens that might be morally objectionable. But probably like any other weapon that already exists, a rocket, missile or gun. While not everyday a new defense systems is invented that is targeted at statistical weapon that terrorizes civilians.
In Batman Begins, the villian just makes the drinking water toxic. With todays AI and Biotech, one can create a new bacteria or virus and cripple water supply of cities. I am sure a suitable trained AI can get more creative with such low cost attack vectors.
Re: Iron Beam: Israel's first operational anti drone laser system
#216From Rafael’s site: https://www.rafael.co.il/system/iron-beam/ 100kW laser is nothing to joke about, but seems a good application for anti drone tasks. Fiber lasers are pretty snazzy.
from what I understand, problem with drones is first of all detection
let me up the ante, drones intermixed with kamikaze pigeons.
Re: Iron Beam: Israel's first operational anti drone laser system
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
All lies? Hamas and Islamic Jihad shooting thousands of rockets before, during and after October 7 massacre is documented[1] by Wikipedia (that does have documented anti-israel bias[2]) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_and_the_Israeli%E2%8...
Sorry but doesn't fly. Also Islam has nothing to do with Palestinian resistance. This theme of "Palestinians and Muslims are all Jihadists and all seek to kill Jews" is also getting really really old. 2026 will bring more enlightenment to the masses. Also, Israel loves messing with wikipedia as it has done for years. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/18/wikipedia-edit...
> > Hamas and Islamic Jihad shooting thousands of rockets
> Islam has nothing to do with Palestinian resistance
"Islamic Jihad" is referring to the group "Palestinian Islamic Jihad" which is very real and has claimed responsibility for multiple suicide bombs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_Islamic_Jihad#List...
Re: Iron Beam: Israel's first operational anti drone laser system
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
We are nowhere near that point yet. Small rockets are totally different weapons then ICBM.
there was interview with guy from rafael who was head of iron beam project. it looks like they have some plans for dealing with icbm. airborne if I understood correctly
I guess airborne would be easier to intercept in their earlier phase before they go super fast, but then you have to have air assets in the right place at the right time.
At their terminal phase icbms go at mach 25, which is pretty hard to shine a laser on for an extended period of time.
Re: Iron Beam: Israel's first operational anti drone laser system
#219[flagged]
Response to “How much U.S. taxpayer money was spent on this?” - now flagged: $1.2B Source: https://defensescoop.com/2024/04/25/iron-beam-procurement-us...
“The Israeli system is a slightly different approach technologically. So actually, it’s a nice complement because we’re kind of going down one path, they’ve gone down a slightly different one. So I think yes, there’s potential if theirs works well, it could be something we could think about leveraging for our needs in that space. So that’s really a benefit of that funding is … we can explore multiple paths here and see what works,” Bush said.
Re: Iron Beam: Israel's first operational anti drone laser system
#220Earlier quoted context omitted.
"It's a very expensive way to hurt people" has historically never been a real deterrent to motivated nation states to bring costs down
The point is, why would they bother when there’s cheaper and easier ways to do it? A high tech laser system is great for shooting stuff down because it replaces missile systems that cost even more. If you want to cripple people, why would you use it instead of a cheap gun or baton? “It could be used to hurt people” doesn’t mean much. You at least need “it could be used to hurt people, and it’s better at it in at leas…
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