Nadene Goldfoot
Israel's first creation of a Defense System against rockets and missiles: Arrow 2.Update: 5/3/2023: The IDF has launched an investigation into why the Iron Dome missile defense system missed 2 rockets that ended up landing in Sderot, wounding 3 and causing material damage. The Iron Dome success rate in the latest rocket barrages from Gaza was only 67%. During the last major round of rocket attacks, last summer, the Iron Dome had a 96% accuracy rate. For more, read update below.
The Arrow or Hetz (Hebrew: חֵץ, pronounced [ˈχet͡s]) is a family of anti-ballistic missiles designed to fulfill an Israeli requirement for a missile defense system that would be more effective against ballistic missiles than the MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile. Jointly funded and produced by Israel and the United States, development of the system began in 1986 and has continued since, drawing some contested criticism. Undertaken by the MALAM division of the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Boeing, it is overseen by the Israeli Ministry of Defense's "Homa" (Hebrew: חומה, pronounced [χoma], "rampart") administration and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. It forms the long-range layer of Israel's multi-tiered missile defence system, along with David's Sling (at medium-to-long range) and both Iron Dome and Iron Beam (at short ranges).
Iron Dome in action
Iron Dome (Hebrew: כִּפַּת בַּרְזֶל, is a mobile all-weather air defense system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries. The system is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to 70 kilometres (43 mi) away and whose trajectory would take them to an Israeli populated area. From 2011 to 2021, the United States contributed a total of US$1.6 billion to the Iron Dome defense system, with another US$1 billion approved by the US Congress in 2022.
Iron Dome was declared operational and initially deployed on 27 March 2011 near Beersheba. On 7 April 2011, the system successfully intercepted a rocket launched from Gaza for the first time. On 10 March 2012, The Jerusalem Post reported that the system shot down 90% of rockets launched from Gaza that would have landed in populated areas. In late 2012 Israel said that it hoped to increase the range of Iron Dome's interceptions, from a maximum of 70 kilometres (43 mi) to 250 kilometres (160 mi) and make it more versatile so that it could intercept rockets coming from two directions simultaneously.
Beam me up: Israel’s new laser system is a security game changer
"Magen Or" (Iron Beam) is the next step up in Israel's self-defense: a laser system that can "cook" rockets, missiles or drones from afar, and at zero cost compared to the Iron Dome. It will be able to intercept rockets from Gaza even before they cross the border while Israeli citizens sleep soundly with no need to sound alarms The dream of a new security system that intercepts rockets using a powerful laser, an optical shield, is one that Israel’s citizens can still only fantasize about.
I don't want to give it a Kinn-ah hora, but they must be pretty sure this will work and be ready by next year. Otherwise they wouldn't be telling the world about it.
I want the world to see that Israel has had atomic bomb capability for a long time now, and what they spend their time doing is creating defense----not offense like Iran. The atomic bomb is there to remind them what they don't want done to themselves, and therefore others in the Middle East should feel the same way as they do. It's for defense. The Iron Dome and Iron Beam is for defense, to keep Israelis alive, for none of us is in a hurry to meet our maker. We want to experience and enjoy the beauty our maker had created for us to enjoy. Yuval Azulay09:32, 30.04.23
Israel's futuristic scenario comes from Major Hananel, one of the leaders of the Magen Or (Iron Beam) program under development by Rafael and the Ministry of Defense which is expected to be ready for operational use by the IDF next year.
More than a hundred engineers from Rafael’s Research, Development and Engineering division are currently working on the development of the Iron Beam that will allow the interception of threats such as mortar bombs, rockets, anti-tank missiles, drones, and various other objects, with the precision of a laser, at the speed of light – and at a minimal cost compared to those of the Iron Dome. “We are currently at a peak stage in the full development of the system,” says its chief engineer, Dr. Yochai, who has been working on its development for 17 years. After a long and complicated pregnancy, his “baby” is beginning to take shape.
“We look a lot at what has been happening in Ukraine in the last year and I prefer not to go into too much detail on this issue,” Yochai says. “The fact that there are 250,000 rockets, missiles and UCAVs that are aimed at Israel from almost every possible direction also pushes us to tell the story of our capabilities. This is part of the drive, we have to strive for good solutions to complex problems. Show me another country that is dealing with a situation where its citizens are being attacked every day with rockets and mortar bombs like Israel.”
What are laser beams, anyway?
Featured snippet from the web
In most cases, a laser emits light in the form of a well directed light beam, which is called a laser beam. This means that the light dominantly propagates in a certain direction, typically with most of the optical power concentrated to a small area of the order of a square millimeter.
Laser-based directed-energy weapons have been under development for defense purposes, particularly for the destruction of incoming missiles. One such example is the Boeing Airborne Laser, constructed inside a Boeing 747 and designated as the YAL-1. This system was designed to eliminate short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles during their boost phase.
Another laser-based defense system was researched for the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI, nicknamed "Star Wars") and its successor programs. This project aimed to employ ground-based or space-based laser systems to destroy incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). However, various practical challenges, such as directing a laser over a large distance through the atmosphere, complicated the implementation of these systems. Optical scattering and refraction would bend and distort the laser beam, making it difficult to aim and reducing its efficiency.
A related concept from the SDI project was the nuclear-pumped X-ray laser, an orbiting atomic bomb surrounded by laser media in the form of glass rods. When the bomb detonated, the rods would be exposed to highly-energetic gamma-ray photons, causing spontaneous and stimulated emission of X-ray photons within the rod atoms. This process would result in optical amplification of the X-ray photons, generating an X-ray laser beam that would be minimally affected by atmospheric distortion and capable of destroying ICBMs in flight. However, the X-ray laser would be a single-use device, as it would destroy itself upon activation. Some initial tests of this concept were conducted with underground nuclear testing, but the results were not promising. Research into this approach to missile defense was discontinued after the SDI program was canceled.
Iron Beam by same people who made Iron Dome
Iron Beam is a laser-based air defense system which was unveiled at the Singapore Airshow on February 11, 2014 by Israeli defense contractor Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. The system is designed to destroy short-range rockets, artillery, and mortar bombs; it has a range of up to 7 km (4.3 mi), too close for the Iron Dome system to intercept projectiles effectively. In addition, the system could also intercept unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Iron Beam will constitute the sixth element of Israel's integrated air defense system, in addition to Arrow 2, Arrow 3, David's Sling, Barak 8, and Iron Dome.
Iron Beam uses a fiber laser to destroy an airborne target. Whether acting as a stand-alone system or with external cueing as part of an air-defense system, a threat is detected by a surveillance system and tracked by vehicle platforms in order to engage.
Resource:
update 5/3/2023: https://www.ynetnews.com/article/sjjgbj07n#autoplay?utm_source=email
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Dome#Background
https://unitedwithisrael.org/beam-me-up-israel-developing-laser-system-that-intercepts-rockets/?utm_source=newsletters_unitedwithisrael_org&utm_medium=email&utm_content=STAR+WARS+ISRAEL%3A+IDF+Laser+Intercepts+Rockets%3B+%E2%80%98Israel%2C
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/t7ac5asht
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