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The Military

Israel Deploys World's First Drone Defense Laser (tomshardware.com) 173

Posted by BeauHD from the laser-weapons-era dept.
Israel has operationally deployed Iron Beam, a 100,000-watt laser air-defense system capable of shooting down drones, rockets, and mortars at negligible per-shot cost. According to Tom's Hardware, it marks the first real-world deployment of a high-energy laser as part of a modern, multi-layered missile defense network. From the report: The Iron Beam is a short-range line-of-sight laser interceptor that is extremely cheap to run and, therefore, perfectly suited for intercepting low-cost, high-volume threats. According to the official Israeli announcement, Iron Beam systems have "successfully intercepted rockets, mortars, and UAVs."

A complex mix of government, military, scientific, and commercial interests were responsible for the research and development of the Iron Beam laser system. Central to the Iron Beam are "an advanced laser source and a unique electro-optical targeting system, enabling the interception of a wide range of targets at an enhanced operational range, with maximum precision and superior efficiency," boasted the press release by Israel's MoD. Moreover, it works "at a negligible marginal cost, which constitutes the laser system's primary advantage."

We don't get much more by way of technical details, perhaps understandably. However, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems execs heralded the system's "unique adaptive optics technology," in what it calls "the world's most advanced laser-based system for intercepting aerial threats." Its operational debut "marks the beginning of the era of high-energy laser defense," they claimed.
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Israel Deploys World's First Drone Defense Laser

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  • Wow (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 31, 2025 @03:22AM (#65892019)

    Instead of talking about their new laser, lets talk about the genocide and war crimes Israel have committed against the people in Gaza. 70,000 dead, including 20,000 children in two years. Many more in the preceding years.

    Nearly 40 aid organisations will no longer be permitted to operate in Gaza come January 1st.

    Israel wants land. Israel will starve and kill all Gazans to get that land. Land that was never theirs.

    I put it to you that Benjamin Netanyahu is in the same league of mass-murdering evil leaders as Adolph Hitler, Stalin, etc.

    • Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I have never heard about this issue. It’s weird there isn’t protest marches outside parliament and people giving out pamphlets outside every train station and online campaigns and people wearing flags and placards and bangles and stickers on their backpacks about it.

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Not weird
        https://substack.com/@tritapar... [substack.com]

        Police: If you are in support of Palestine, then you are breaching conditions and you can be arrested.

        Protester: And if we are in support of Israel, we can stay?

        Police: Yes. Yes.

        • When I wrote

          I have never heard about this issue. It’s weird there isn’t protest march etc etc

          followed by a list of places and methods by which I am reminded of the issue EVERY SINGLE DAY, I thought the sarcasm would be enough. Apparently not. I don’t know of a single issue that has a more prolific and pervasive presence in daily life.

          Your quote is also ridiculous: supporting Palestine is totally fine. However, supporting a proscribed group that is illegal, even if deliberately uses innocent words Palestine Action as its moniker. We can debate all day about whether the group sho

    • Aww, a coward hates Jews.
    • I am not for genocide.

    • Instead of talking about their new laser, lets talk about the genocide and war crimes Israel have committed against the people in Gaza.

      This is nerd news. Unless the dead are powering the laser I'd prefer to talk about the laser.

  • All they need to do is put it on a track. Somehow I got the idea from the summary that they were drones with lasers but the image pretty clearly shows a heavy device mounted on a platform.

    What are they going to do put one on every rooftop? Looks like there will still be a lot of shrapnel if they blow them up in the air.

  • Lasers are not the solution - another PR Stunt (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Canberra1 ( 3475749 ) on Wednesday December 31, 2025 @04:14AM (#65892071)

    Lasers need a honking big power supply, think 20ft container size. Capacitors to drive it are juicy on radars, and the emf spike is triangulated. Overdriven lasers, wear out. There is a lifetime, and it is not huge, maybe a low as 100 shots. Weather and rain. 5km range, but 1 km would be more like it. Drones and glide bombs are SO cost effective in wiping out both tanks and container sized trucks. So basically expensive kit, restricted use. Probably best to guard Patriot like million bucks a pop systems. Best bang for buck is getting out of war and into peace.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Peace isn't the goal. The goal is to keep ramping things up as an excuse for genocide and ethnic cleansing.

    • Well, it looks like the whole unit is about the size of a container, but that's the entire unit. And if the claims are accurate, it doesn't burn out. Per-shot cost is too low for them to be burning through hardware.

      It's also designed to stop drones and glide bombs, so I don't know why you would pick those as your example threats.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dskoll ( 99328 )

      I suspect that there will be Iron Dome interceptors as backups if the lasers don't bring down the incoming munitions. If you can get 'em with the laser, great! You've saved a ton of money. But if not, send up a missile.

    • So basically expensive kit, restricted use.

      You described literally every piece of military kit.

  • Jewish Space Lasers again (Score:3)

    by cstacy ( 534252 ) on Wednesday December 31, 2025 @04:19AM (#65892075)

    https://www.aju.edu/events/jew... [aju.edu]

  • Last years battle (Score:3)

    by Pinky's Brain ( 1158667 ) on Wednesday December 31, 2025 @06:13AM (#65892211)

    Extremely manouvrable ground skimming UAVs will be cheap tech in the near future. Unless you mount the laser on balloons, they won't do shit against those.

    The war in the Ukraine has massively accelerated low cost weapon development.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

      One thing a lot of people following Ukraine war seem to miss is that these small drones are awful in forested areas and urban areas. They're only as powerful as they are in large open spaces, like Eurasian steppe. Which is what covers much of front line in Ukraine.

      This is one of the reasons why even minor towns have become near impenetrable, and most drone activity now focuses on attacking long and open supply routes to the front lines over actual front lines which tend to go through small patches of forest

      • It would be darkly amusing for reforestation efforts to become a defense industry related task

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

          Become?

          My country has more border with Russians than the rest of EU combined. Keeping dense forests with minimal road infrastructure on our eastern border has been a project of almost a century.

          Because forests don't just stop drones. They're also really good at stopping armor. They're also really good at hiding troops from bombers.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by jabuzz ( 182671 )

            Just a couple hundred metres of forest along your border would make any land invasion extremely difficult. You would have to clear the forest first before moving vehicles through it and this makes them an immediate and easy target. Problem is that it takes ~20 years to get your trees to a suitable size.

      • Only because they are not yet UAV. A couple cameras and a fast processor to stereo match them plus some AI pathfinding costs little hardware wise.

        • I meant not yet autonomous.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

          Autonomy doesn't protect you from branches or leaves.

          You could probably build some really high end complex AI that can infer most of them with really high fidelity cameras and have a significantly lowered chance of hitting branches of getting leaves wrapped around rotors. At that point, this drone will not fly, because all the compute, cameras etc will likely exceed lifting capacity of the smaller quads even without any other payload, not to even mention power requirements.

          And large ones are utterly helples

    • Why would that foil these lasers? Even if they are mounted higher up than the drones might fly, they can be pointed downwards.

  • Iran has announced the first deployment of its disco-ball drone.

    500 people were critically injured during the first clash between the disco-ball drone and Israel's drone defense laser. Officials said "the collateral damage over a wide area was significant and is something we're working to reduce".

  • Fuck Israel

  • Gaza Discussion (Score:4)

    by InterGuru ( 50986 ) <interguru@@@gmail...com> on Wednesday December 31, 2025 @12:05PM (#65892835)
    I do not object to the discussion of Gaza. I object to the lack of attention of other atrocities, Sudan, Myanmar, Uyghurs, and various other humanitarian disasters. Israel is being held to a differentstandard than other countries. No one is calling for the erasure of China, or the Gulf states supporting Sudan. I am happy so many countries are supporting the creation of a Palestinian state. They have beenoffered a state three times, and turned it down because they did not want to give up their goal of eradicating Israel. Maybe this time they will take up the offer. I wonder why only Israel is held to a standard? I'lll let you. guess——

    • Re:Gaza Discussion (Score:4, Insightful)

      by emok ( 162266 ) on Wednesday December 31, 2025 @03:06PM (#65893341)

      The striking difference is that Israel is strongly supported by the United States, while the other countries you listed are not.

      For decades Israel has been a top recipient of US foreign aid. The US unilaterally vetoes every UN Security Council resolution that Israel doesn't like. The US directly provides military support to Israel.

      On the other hand, Sudan, Myanmar, and China are either embargoed or sanctioned or both.

    • I do not object to the discussion of Gaza. I object to the lack of attention of other atrocities, Sudan, Myanmar, Uyghurs, and various other humanitarian disasters. Israel is being held to a differentstandard than other countries. No one is calling for the erasure of China, or the Gulf states supporting Sudan.

      Relatively few people are calling for the erasure or extermination of Israel. It seems like the two extremes calling for the extermination of either Israel or the Gaza are attempting to paint the other extreme as representing the viewpoint of all, when that is far from the truth. I think part of the reason why the PR defense of Israel is receiving so much animus is due to the idea that any criticism of Israel is equivalent to calling for the extermination of Israel. In reality, the vast majority defend t

  • Can they at least freakin' attach them to freakin' sharks heads? Is that too much to ask?

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