Iron Beam: How Israel’s New Laser Weapon Works | WSJ

Israel’s experimental air-defense system known as the Iron Beam uses laser technology to strike down drones and rockets, but military analysts say the device needs U.S. support to improve its performance. WSJ explains how it works.
Photo Illustration: Adam Adada
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#Iron Beam #Israel #WSJ

[@banto1]

weather shouldn't be an issue as according to official Iranian media Israel controls the weather and can make clouds disappear.

[@michaelgreenberg8224]

hahaha

[@maxfun6797]

@@michaelgreenberg8224 what's funny?

[@michaelgreenberg8224]

@@maxfun6797 Seriously? Explaining a joke spoils the joke. However, ask yourself: Can any human technology of this century make clouds disappear? It is of course impossible.

[@rebelbhagatsingh909]

Isreal don't even said to co-operate with America... Only wall Street Journal says... Americs hunger of weapons.... Can't be satisfied😊😊

[@viviansmitha8389]

@@michaelgreenberg8224 No lol, it actually is possible. The americans did it in vietnam to prevent rains byy silver iodide

[@engineeranonymous]

The systems sensor is not the problem in different weather conditions, the problem is LASER has trouble penetrating through fog, cloud, dust etc just like light.

[@joeroganpodfantasy42]

Isn't that what weather conditions means. That the air is not clear there is snow rain fog dust etc

[@HiThisIsMine]

Congratulations, you just repeated what the video already clarified 👍🏽

[@guymind9463]

That's why this will be an an addition to the Iron dome not a replacement.

[@brendan3603]

No it wouldn’t. The energy density is insanely large.

[@mastershooter64]

what about a maser? a microwave laser?

[@jordanp5469]

This video really glosses over how groundbreaking this technology is. When they're breaking down the parts of the system they just say "laser gun" and ignore it like it's normal

[@karlosdeevs]

reminds of that insane 'star-wars laser plan' proposed by the reagan administration in the 80s

[@omermagen824]

Yup. Afaik, the breakthrough is that this is a solid state laser. Previously only chemical lasers were able to put out this much power, but they were expensive to operate with a much higher cost per shot, and had a long reload time.

[@800niks]

Why should they explain the how the newly groundbreaking technology works in a 5 min video that is supposed to give an overall information about it, not dive deep into it? If you wanted to learn about the technical details of how the laser work, you would have found a technical video, not this...

[@JG-mp5nb]

Seriously!

[@ezpzapp]

Facts kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoHHmX-nrqubfZI

[@Synthmilk]

It's always best to have multiple types of system to counter a particular threat. The laser system is relatively inexpensive to actually use, so there is likely the ability to deploy more systems for the same cost as the Iron Dome system. Networking the fire control systems would allow the optimal engagement of targets to maximize the chances of a shot resulting in a kill.

[@cesarzumaetavalencia8643]

great comment

[@chencohen2369]

There's also the question of the cost of the unit itself tho, if it is in fact low or just not too expensive than you're right. I suppose it isn't too expensive to build.

[@SpazTc01]

What about power wise

[@B01]

@@chencohen2369 the cost of production isn't part of this particular equation. Because the other option (at current time with current tech) is for them to be shooting down $200 rockets with $100,000 interceptor missile, with some intercepts needing more than one. Estimates put the ham mas and haz bol lah (hopefully this post stays up with YT algorithm lol) stockpiles of rockets in the 100,000-200,000+ range. Just hez bull ah has 100k by some estimates. With that type of quantity to defend against, the production cost would have to be unbelievably severe to make a real impact on the decision to go with trying to use this as primary and dome as secondary

[@B01]

@@SpazTc01 they have em available for all platforms. Land/air/sea. Pretty wild. But if it's flying it probably isn't too intense all things considered. Raytheon (I think it is) even has one inside a standard looking missile ballast/additional fuel tank. What I mean is the entire laser defense system, is contained within the emptied missle shell or whatever the proper term for it's housing is (obviously the laser defense system is a custom encasing lol, Raytheons version just looks exactly like that of a missle casing/housing and fits on the wing armaments so it's a universal application basically)... Crazy to think that's possible, to have on a fighter jet which truly can only carry the lightest loads of all

[@alanchi8853]

Multiple iron beams on a single target should cut the shootdown time?

[@phatphan1403]

Yes, but then the demand for energy will be huge.

[@artjom01]

@@phatphan1403 The system can recharge slowly, no pressure on power grid or small generator

[@phieyl7105]

They are different distances apart, and so not as effective than increasing the power of one laser beam

[@hamzamahmood9565]

@@phatphan1403 Tap into central power supply? Lasers won't be shooting forever so it's better to have a blackout for 10-15 mins than a missile land on your house

[@bobbystem7384]

@@phatphan1403 100kw would take 36 seconds to use a kwh, which costs approximately $0.16. That is beyond negligible cost or power draw. You could have an array of hundreds or thousands of these working in unison to take down many targets rapidly, and the "ammunition" cost would never even begin to approach the cost of even a single interceptor missile. Laser weapons are a big deal, and the modern world's power grids (both formal and decentralized [home storage]) and only increasing in strength by the day.

[@bigmek2903]

The things you said about weather problems are really not an issue since in israel there is very little fog or rain in comparison with western countries. These things also affect hamas rockets which is why we pretty much never have alarms go off in the winter

[@lior_shiboli]

In the north there is fog though from time to time

[@mlseg5143]

There are quite a bit of dust storms in some areas which might also hamper viability

[@Pepe_theFurfagFrog]

It is infrared, so fog and rain aren't as much of a problem as with a visible-light laser. The solids (dust) are a problem. Try googling: fog rain, FLIR vs visible light. Using a rifle scope with infrared in fog also can locate targets better.

[@oxytocin1989]

@@Pepe_theFurfagFrog For detection, sure. But any particulates of any kind in the air will cause more blooming. If it’s cloudy, lasers don’t work. You can get rid of clouds pretty easily though.

[@iddomargalit-friedman3897]

The north has a lot more cloud cover, and they have no problems firing at winter. But I guess the first role would probably be defending towns and military concentration areas very near gaza - as Iron dome is very problematic against mortar fire, while it fits right for this system.

[@sabnamtopno1709]

Iron beam and iron dom both are amazing

[@collinwhites9833]

Iron Beam technology will likely become standard for large (probably nuclear powered) vessels.

[@williamzk9083]

Several countries have similar technology. Israel has the need.

[@OhioPalmTrees]

personally why I say nukes are almost pointless these days.

[@jvk1607]

Space lasers

[@JBlandie]

@@OhioPalmTrees these laser technologies aren't deployed yet

[@idovogel9398]

What? Do you know what the iron dome does? You speak like it's just a rocket launcher

[@bowlampar]

Under scenario of $50,000per firing over $2per firing cost ratio, the imperfection of Iron Beam can be tolerated since there is no such thing as a' Perfect 'air defense system in our world. 👨🏼‍✈👩🏼‍✈️

[@ronblack7870]

yes it's in addition to other defense systems. the real cost is the cost of the laser system , which they don't mention. is it 100 million each, 10 million each or what. more power will always help. get it to a megawatt and now it becomes more effective.

[@maharajajaja]

Imagine that $50,000 rocket saving $1 million in infrastructure and lives. The cost calculation is not done the way you have described

[@ParallelComparison]

@@maharajajaja Good point. But Hamas and Hezbollah have hundreds of thousands of rockets combined. $50k - $100k interception is not viable in a long full blown war. The Iron beam is a must

[@badgermcbadger1968]

@@ParallelComparison hamas cant survive a full blown war, israel can conquer gaza at will. Hazbulla is a different story...

[@ParallelComparison]

@@badgermcbadger1968 Is that why the leader of Hezbollah is still hiding underground in his bunker since 2006 until today? Legend has it the IDF's 5 finger print mark is still on his A$$ while he claims victory in his hole

[@DanielNistrean]

Without a doubt laser is the future. It has the speed of light and requires no ammunition or logistics, maybe a solid state battery to make it mobile. The biggest issues are that it looses power proportional to the distance and storage capacity of the battery.

[@millanferende6723]

The only problem is mist and heavy rain.

[@zegaskmask5659]

It would have logistics due to the power draw. You can’t keep those batteries stocked up with power indefinitely.

[@dgrbcreations]

Soon life will be like star wars

[@PsychoticGirl2023]

That’s plasma

[@cnordegren]

Korea, Japan, NATO, and Georgia would be standing in line with cash to buy this product!

[@augustinefaithdefender]

Amen

[@chnsm]

Israel need to have American permission before selling weapons, why do you think nobody is buying the iron dome (like taiwan, south Korea, UAE, Ukraine) there is a market for it but it isn't allowed because some stuff will destroy the similar, American products in the market, so America prevents Israel from selling some products and some countries (Israel is only allowed to sell to third world countries and only weapons that are not equal or better from American weapons), its part of the alliance between Israel and the USA, especially after Israel Lavi jet project (jet that is better than the f-16 with half the price, and it was created when f-16 was fairly new, basically will destroy the sellings of f-16, and put American companies at risk of huge loses and even hurt the American economy at the time, because of this America give Israel money (aid money) to prevent them from selling thier technologies)

[@yakov95000]

@@chnsm The thing is that US is crucial partner in developing those weapons(most of them atleast),it helps and funds significant parts of that system developments(for example US investments only on the Iron Dome was in the Hundreds of Millions of Dollars)I think Americans has some right to say on what Israel selling especially when they helped it exist,Israel understand this reality,if Israel really want to be independent in that issue it should not ask US help.

[@strauss7151]

The system doesn't work as well in Nov-Dec cloudy weather. Gaza: Write that down, write that down!

[@smmshoe]

you don't fight in winter lol they will get killed so fast

[@APinchofDill]

Well there is now footage of this thing working. Kinda cool

[@Shut_Up]

Its fake

[@pchandrahasan]

"We love death more than you love life" - Hamas

[@k.h.8897]

Very well done Israel! Support from Sweden🇸🇪🇮🇱🇸🇪

[@orbendavid5119]

[@sahal6640]

Free Palestinians 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

[@naveenn6235]

It's not only cost effective but environment friendly also🙃🙃🙃🖖

[@l10r35]

well, no. the rocket shrapnel still falls to the ground, unless youre talking about the gas a normal missile burns then its just ridiculous

[@lordyoda607]

​@@l10r35 Would you prefer we use a tractor beam to safely pull the missile down to earth without it blowing up?

[@l10r35]

@@lordyoda607 it does blow up tho

[@omniyambot9876]

@@l10r35 if the missile is not hit? There's no sharpnel??🤣

[@l10r35]

@@omniyambot9876 the missile explodes. Use ur brain

[@RasheedKhan-he6xx]

I like that this is, for the moment, a defensive weapon.

[@gigacanno750]

The Iron Dome is a defensive weapon.

[@neryasheetrit]

Iron dome isn't defensive?

[@urigreenberg9760]

Israel's main innovation comes in defense measures, iron dome and trophy protective systems being a few

[@yairsense]

@@neryasheetrit yes it is.

[@neryasheetrit]

@@yairsense ברור אחי It was a rhetorical question

[@user-qg4bg7or8s]

They got the iron dome. They got the iron beam. All they are missing is iron man 😁

[@alecgrolimond1678]

I am certain this has been thought of however converging several beams would help no?

[@bethankful]

If I were to speculate, multiple beams hitting the same target would not overcome the stated weaknesses. Continuing to speculate, each laser beam would damage the target independently of each other, so it would not speed up the kill. Converging multiple beams would not overcome the weaknesses due to weather nor range.

[@SolarFantom]

If multiple beams are able to target the same part of the missile with similar precision, it certainly would increase the speed to destroy missiles. It may increase the effective range as well. Obviously, this increases the cost of a system and may not help at all with certain weather conditions. It also would introduce the difficulty of coordinating multiple systems together, especially if they are geographically distributed. If this kind of technology becomes more common, other countries would certainly focus R&D efforts on making missiles that have countermeasures though, which I imagine could take the form of a special material on the outside of the rocket that is able to reflect a high percentage of the laser's energy, lengthening the time to kill or even negating it entirely.

[@CarFreeSegnitz]

@@SolarFantom “…special material on the outside…” I went immediately to retroreflectors. It’ll reject a high percentage of the incoming energy and send it straight back to the firing location.

[@CarFreeSegnitz]

@@tinytanks Look up retroreflectors. It will send light back to its source no matter what angle it comes in at. NASA used this feature by having Apollos 11, 14 & 15 set up retroreflectors on the Moon. Now we can .fire lasers at the Moon to get extremely accurate ranging measurements.

[@EroticOnion23]

Tape some mirrors on the rockets?? 🤔

[@markzieg3593]

Great technology. I hope to see US support for the laser weaponry. The per Shot cost is where there will be great impact in taking out multi-million dollar weapons. This alone is reason to pursue additional investment. 🇮🇱 🇺🇸

[@prasunmishra9625]

Israel has deployed this laser beam today. Here after announcement.

[@6uis186]

And it already intercepted many things

[@audieallen9734]

good vid. the beam is just one part of a system to deal with a variety of threats

[@shawnbarron2455]

Always interesting to get a preview of the next war's new toys.

[@makinen06]

i read in the paper - the next step is to take this system, put it on a drone, and that way the range increases.

[@bob-wo3ir]

Israel Elbit systems already tested the laser system on a plane. It's on youtube.

[@ajlopeman4122]

Weight is too great. Unless you want to keep a power cable attachment to it.

[@rrenkrieg7988]

you'd need a battery pack 3 times the weight of the drone just to have enough laser time on target for even just a few projectiles until it runs out of juice

[@BenyKarachun]

@@ajlopeman4122 No, Eitan drone has a 1200HP engine and has a very large payload capacity, enough to power the laser system

[@francistjose7324]

​@@rrenkrieg7988Antimatter reactor should be equipped as energy source in Drone.

[@filibuster_jpr]

I hope this laser beam can be attached to drones to extend its reach and strategy 🤔

[@ParallelComparison]

Sure will. Israel passenger airliners have laser installed on them

[@firstlast9731]

That would be very cool

[@hus390]

Necessity creates creativity.😁 The constant fear and shelling of rockets by Hamas made Israel fire all cylinders to come up with these solutions. Of course also thanks to generous US military aid.

[@ParallelComparison]

"Generous" military aid? Nothing is free, the US pressures Israel to stop selling Israeli technology to certain countries, in return, the US compensate Israel with ongoing aid.

[@geeeeeeeee787]

It's a good combination. Like a tech company running an accelerator for startups.

[@guye94]

Israel is the oppressor

[@onurcandan1486]

they probably miss something big while dealing with this aspect

[@JoelJohnson24]

Congratulations. We're on the path to successfully creating a fully-operational Death Star

[@AnonYmouS00816]

Exactly what I was thinking

[@marina12345678911000]

Have you watched the news last 3-4 months? Death Star is already here. Russia is bombing Ukraine every day. Israel has developed Iron Dome to protect herself from Islamic terrorists.

[@omer9572]

recent news from israel also implies that if u have multiple iron beam working together they can be more effective like how the iron dome use multiple launchers to handle more incoming rockets

[@oxytocin1989]

Yes but that’s not exactly what they mean. What they mean is, if blooming causes a laser beam to weaken in intensity, then you can have lots of lasers pointing at one target to increase the intensity. It’s not the same as firing lots of missiles to increase hit probability: the laser always hit. The same idea is used for treating certain cancers: lasers can be weak but if several converge at one point, it’s more intense there.

[@necronlord52]

Do not forget, that this is a very young technology. You can see it's development on regular handheld laser pointers from China. For 5 years, power of those increased tenfold, and prices dropped significantly. Same goes for military grade lasers. So, I suppose we'll see a 1MW laser on the battlefield in next 5 years or so.

[@nick_0]

Imagine they developed a gamma ray burst weapon with an intensity that is hard to block

[@nick_0]

@@sonacphotos Right I know, but at the scale of cosmic gamma ray bursts they could vaporize a person instantly. If we could replicate even a fraction of that power it's a worthy weapon, but would ofc be a banned weapon of war :)

[@zaxxon4]

@@nick_0 The problem with creating a gamma ray weapon would be the power draw required for anything that would cause near instant death. The best we could do is create a cancer gun with our current tech. There are just so many more efficient uses of the electricity when devising weapons. There's the whole electromagnetic spectrum to look at, but the most viable options are the ones that heat up an object. I suspect any viable solution will be foiled by a coating that reflects the spectrum used (look up laser tattoo removal).

[@Keemperor40K]

The US already has a well defined development plan for 1 MW weapon in a Tank sized platform within a decade, limited only by the power supply. Laser weapons on nuclear powered ships could be scaled to 2-3 MW within 15-20 years. And for lowered powered requirements, a clear plan up to 500kw could be deployed in a tank sized platform within 5 years.

[@VVayVVard]

@@zaxxon4 Coatings could be countered with multi-wavelength weapons. And microwaves will likely always remain viable, given that many types of missiles rely on microwave signals (e.g. GPS) to function.

[@omer9572]

also 150kw generator from cummins is good to power this system as it can be carried in a container too along with the system

[@RedPhoenix550]

The video forgot to mention that there are plans to mount this new system on drones in a few years, thus eliminating the weather factor

[@thewolfofswingthat2035]

drones cant out fly missiles..

[@omer9572]

@@thewolfofswingthat2035 dosent need to , the laser will follow the missile while the drone is up in the sky

[@thewolfofswingthat2035]

@@omer9572 the drones have to be up there 24 hours then, or drones have to take turns to be up there. Because if you launch the drone when a missile is detected, its a bit too late...

[@JazzATrain]

@@thewolfofswingthat2035 Israel already has many thousands of drones. Keeping a constant presence in the air would be no problem.

[@thewolfofswingthat2035]

@@JazzATrain good luck with that

[@27jerry27]

Can't wait to buy this in my local Walmart. Murica

[@Gadavillers-Panoir]

But the low cost means that they can literally cover the entire country with them. Save the iron dome for the most hard to take down ones and let the iron beam take care of the rest.

[@mano_kihikihi]

Palestine : i got social credit Israel : i got lasers

[@ME-bw3rl]

Make the unit light enough to make it airborn patrol a sector of airspace, range problem solved

[@MrGriff305]

I have real concerns that the enemy would just wait for fog or rain to attack. It's best to keep the rocket defense as a backup. I've always been bothered that lasers will just never work effectively in rain.

[@alkureshi]

It doesn't rain or fog much on the middle east. It would be a long wait for the terrorists.

[@flint8173]

For Israel, Their enemies could wait for fog or rain months or the time it comes, for iron beams weakness exploitation and then Make Israel spend more economically by spamming rockets so Israel sends iron dome.

[@flint8173]

Which is good Israel will economically collapse for what they think of us Germans 💩😂

[@HexaSquirrel]

Fortunately, there isn't much rain or fog in Israel; Most of the escalations rise in the summer months, so this isn’t a problem.

[@mad_villain8580]

it's not a replacement, isn't it? I thought it's just an addition to the capability of the iron dome. Like Rheinmetal Mantis system, it would give the user the ability to decide how to strike the target. Either laser or rocket. The only problem I see is user overestimate the capability and let the rockets come into the range of the laser and into the minimal range of the rockets. Meaning that if the laser cant take out the threat, there is no way an air-to-air rocket reaching that target anymore. This has to be the absolute last ditch defense and as such will not be used that much, resulting in a low amount of field tests and as such further improvements will be overlooked.

[@coolkevs2371]

i love israel mindset theyre investing on full defence not like US and Russia did nothing to destroy shells and projectiles

[@Charlie-gf4mv]

Ask the 3 and a half thousand Palestinian 0-5 year olds that die each year if Israel is only investing in defence.

[@user-mx1fq6qm6i]

You know the US can easily get hundreds of these for free if they want to, right?

[@nadivvv]

Incredible!!!

[@HKim0072]

Reminds me of the Star Wars program in the 80s.

[@CharChar2121]

Lasers will never be a one-size fits-all solution due to things like rain, fog, and solid-shot kinetic penetrators. It'll need to be a combination of lasers (to minimize cost) and railguns or missiles (to hit whatever the laser cannot).

[@geraldmaxwell3277]

But for Israel, which rarely gets mist and the area around the Gaza strip has little rainfall, the Laser is an excellent weapon.

[@oxytocin1989]

Weather can be “cleared” locally to a large degree, but for sure, railguns are the actual silver bullet.

[@1joshjosh1]

President Biden didn't even know where he was

[@srwla2501]

#yehisraelchai Stand strong Israel!

[@donalain69]

1:09 a typical american house uses only 1 kw? where im from a typical aircon uses more then that..

[@rrenkrieg7988]

1kw? my microwave uses twice that everytime i heat up a sandwich

[@necronlord52]

We do agree, that laser weapon has a magnificent future. 1 MW laser will be a miracle on the battlefield, considering good weather conditions.

[@whuwhaaa2]

A miracle....

[@ararak7132]

Until everybody would start strapping a mirrors on their tanks above armour )

[@thefreemonk6938]

​@@ararak7132 Such a high power bean will melt lasers. By the way it's horrific that humans always come with better ways to kill other humans.

[@otsantos.]

Working now

[@tonyromano8337]

What type of laser, Co2 or Fiber coupled optic ??

[@shellybelly9205]

What if you make the rocket/missile very reflective? (Like a mirror) would it still heat up? Or make it very thermally conductive, (copper or aluminum) with a super cool liquid circulating in some very tiny passage ways? Are a heat sink.

[@byloyuripka9624]

almost junior

[@amitperi6250]

You have to remember that the system is designed to shoot down rockets fired from Gaza and Hamas doesn't have a lot of money to start building rockets with complicated cooling solutions. In regard to a reflective surface, that does seem to pose a problem but I am no experts so who knows

[@MultiAwesomered]

Any surface that perfectly reflects light, will not naturally radiate heat/light away. So if made out of these materials, not only would it likely be very expensive and hard to engineer, but it would also increase the cooling requirements on the rockets to prevent detonation before impact

[@WorldWideMusic2000]

Mirrors can't reflect all wavelength

[@michaelzlprime]

great ideas, now try to make it on a 1920 era broken lathe

[@user-rr7im5og7k]

Love US and Israel from Korea 🇰🇷

[@mozambique9113]

south korea, not korea.* Korea no longer exist since the last korea war.

[@user-mv1jx1mi8d]

Love and respect for you as well 🇮🇱

[@user-mx1fq6qm6i]

We love and respect you too from Israel🇮🇱

[@reouvenz]

And we love you guys in Korea!

[@IdoDekel-do7hh]

@@mozambique9113 the Republic of Korea is the only legitimate government in the korean peninsula. The democratic peoples Republic of Korea has lost its legitimacy long ago.

[@wildweasel3001]

Powers are going up quick, 1MW is in development. Atmospheric blooming can also be overcome with adaptive optics. Not sure what can be done about fog but I expect someone will think of something. Also kinetics and bullet interceptors are making a come back!

[@yadielmercedes3635]

I hope they maintain both system for higher safety

[@Matthew-rp3jf]

Cool, sounds like they can fund themselves now.

[@shuki1]

Thumbs up. An increasing number of Israelis want to stop taking the foreign aid, but it seems that more and more Americans want to keep it flowing because most of that money is spent in the US and provide Americans jobs. So stop the aid - kill US jobs.

[@SexyUndisputed2All]

Why when they can keep fleecing the US taxpayers while building their own tech, pharmaceutical and other companies to then have us buy from them for more profit. 😆

[@reynaldosamonte8779]

May Our God Almighty help Israelites in developing low cost but verry effective defense system that will protect from evil terrorists

[@ahmedhussein3213]

Whatever weapons it develops, this Israel-called state is gonna disappear, sooner or later..

[@Emcee_Squared]

Its like something out of that movie Spaceballs.

[@ramenandgyoza702]

Dr Evil: How about Sharks with frickin Laser Beams?

[@larosegaming6073]

lol

[@samuelattias5451]

Wow

[@Alwadah]

They got the iron dome. They got the iron beam. All they’re missing now is iron man.

[@littlehills739]

inverse square law as well

[@radkovskyy]

Imo combining several low power units acting in sync is far better than having one monstrous power unit

[@jimmys6050]

👍👍👍Awesome

[@flyingcucumber]

Interesting naming. One would assume the advantage of a spherical structure is that it doesn't requires any beams.

[@ryantetreault3447]

A light(or laser) source looses energy exponentially as it leaves the source. Concentrating light to a point increases the intensity of the beam at that point allowing for the melting of metal

[@skill9705]

Iron beam works like a charm, its deployed on Israel and there are dome cool videos around.

[@shy7684]

Perfect

[@CharlesVanNoland]

Aside from having more of them spread around to attack targets from multiple vantage points they could pump up the power to reduce the dwell time. Conversely, instead of one constant beam the laser could be reconfigured to output an order of magnitude more power but in a short burst. Yes, "reconfiguring the laser" means redesigns and more testing, but if the goal is a cheap to use defense system with better reliability then it stands to reason that it could be a much more effective defense if it were a more powerful laser that only required a brief momentary firing to knock munitions out of the sky. Instead of 5sec of 1kw or even 2sec of 3kw I think 100ms of 100kw would be a beast to contend with. Tack on a bunch of supercapacitor arrays that just charge up at the same rate as the 1kw system and have it just be able to fire off a dozen shots before it needs to recharge. Anyway, I'm sure they'll get there eventually, because it's the next logical step in the progression. I know what it takes to engineer and develop these kinds of systems, and it's definitely a lot of work, and right now it looks like they're just trying to get what usable system they have thus far some funding for deployment, because it does offer value. I hope they have good luck with their pursuits.

[@ronblack7870]

no ,short bursts with higher power don't work well against a missile . you need to melt through. unless the burst can do that which currently is not possible at any real range.

[@yoadknux]

Short burst won't be effective, you need prolonged exposure, they have entire teams of physicists and engineers working on this

[@TheBoymusic14]

@@yoadknux Short burst has its advantages, but physics wise 100kw of laser even if bit fractured can destroy rockets, UAVs and mortar shells. 100kw should be enough even for large UAVs

[@JakeandAnnie]

Can we increase the power output of the beam. Making it stronger could cut down time and make it more effective.

[@cedriceric9730]

material technology ?

[@rrenkrieg7988]

they probably already tried and have melted MANY prototypes trying

[@BenyKarachun]

US and China are still struggling to make their systems stronger than 60KW, Israel is at 100KW, it's a very difficult problem

[@frosty2975]

@@BenyKarachun The video literally said that the US has 300KW lasers. And Israel is asking the US for help with the development of their iron beam.

[@BenyKarachun]

@@frosty2975 That's BS lol, "some experts estimate" in reality the biggest laser system the US has is 60KW on board its ships. Israel is asking for funding.

[@SsempeesiDavis]

Good job 👍

[@judgedre1504]

It has staying power is deployed in the right way. It would have to be around the edges multiple units to be able to handle multiple target say five or six in each section. To save cost on the.iron dome that way you can lesson the stree on the iron dome

[@hamzamahmood9565]

Laser tech is probably the closest we can get to intercepting ICBMs, which might make nuclear warfare winnable. Just imagine battleships equipped with lasers sailing close to enemy territory. Would completely change the equation.

[@jsavage86]

Lasers will not intercept ICBM's and there's decoys to worry about and thermal blooming and weather and you dont know what you are talking about

[@kentershackle1329]

And if your enemy has the same laser too?. at shore.?

[@cedriceric9730]

@@jsavage86 lasers from the ground , no but lasers from space absolutely. icbms fly higher than the iss which makes them fair game for space lasers.

[@nehorlavazapalka]

No way that you can focus a useable beam on a MIRV that's 2000 km away. You're looking at 15 m wide beam, minimum at that distance. So you're looking at 50 MW class laser - minimum. Orbital mechanics force this range issue. You'd need a dozens of 10 000 ton lasers up there (many thousands of Star Ship launches) and that would still only protect against Iran and NK.

[@Pepe_theFurfagFrog]

@@jsavage86 Laser intercepts ICBM if mounted to a nano-satellite -- not mounted to a boat, as the O.P. postulated. A terrestrial-based laser does intercept SRBM's (submarine launched nukes). With NO ATMOSPHERE, lasers aren't diffused as much, thus giving a large range distance.

[@kingthranduil8807]

This will be very effective against drones.

[@franciscody9622]

Yes and Russia is using it in Ukraine.

[@urigreenberg9760]

@@franciscody9622 no they aren't

[@barismetin1014]

What is the surface of the target is reflective material?

[@limeylime8027]

The US: A laser based missile defense system?! *RONALD REAGAN WANTS TO KNOW YOUR LOCATION*

[@mariacheebandidos7183]

3:38 seems like when reporters just fill up names on a list, based not on any evidence but on perception and popular belief (which are very susceptible to propaganda)

[@anteeko]

Isn't reflective paint be enough to prevent any laser damage?

[@jakemon4550]

Nope, that beam is highly ionized energy, it ain't a torch. It will melt through a mirror just as quickly as it will melt through anything else.

[@qiyuxuan9437]

Well, lasee cutter can cut clear acrlyc pretty easily.

[@anteeko]

@@jakemon4550 "Nope, that beam is highly ionized energy, it ain't a torch. It will melt through a mirror just as quickly as it will melt through anything else." I had no idea, I though mirror surface would dissipate the heat/energy. So I guess the only problem is the weather (cloud would dissipate energy?)

[@ronblack7870]

not only do reflective surfaces not stop the laser but as the power of the laser increases you run into problems not burning the optics of the laser itself. that's why you can't easily just build a 1 megawat laser.

[@anteeko]

@@ronblack7870 interesting thanks. is optic the limiting factor?

[@dr.sudheerkumar9685]

Wonderful nation and planning and implementation

[@kosasihwarnet5046]

kalau secara logika, roket harus bisa memantulkan cahaya untuk mencegah iron beam,... bisa dengan lapisan kaca atau yg memantulkan cahaya

[@enthused7591]

The average household doesn't use 1kw on average, it uses closer to 15kw at any given time. It can take more than 15kw just to power on a central air conditioner. It takes nearly 1kw just to run a refrigerator.

[@ronblack7870]

yes reporters always overstate things like this. they never seem to know the simplest technical details.they say something has the power of 1000 cars when you look at it they use 25 horsepower for a car.

[@Vespertilio-Homo]

What kind of inefficient McMansions do you all live in? I have a fridge. My apartment uses 115 Watts on average (1000 kWh/year).

[@enthused7591]

@@Vespertilio-Homo They take 800 watts to start, and then 115 sounds about right for running watts, and that's considered a low-powered appliance. Hot water heaters, dryers, stoves and ranges, space heaters and AC units will quickly run you up past 10kw. You live in an apartment. Big difference between that and a house.

[@jaredgalvin]

is it viable as an attack system as well? star-trek style :D

[@yojimbo3681]

Star Trek doesn't use lasers, they use phasers, which is far more powerful without the drawbacks of a laser.

[@jaredgalvin]

@@yojimbo3681 you make it sound like startrek phasers are real. they are not. not in this era.

[@yojimbo3681]

@@jaredgalvin I know, I'm just saying even the writers knew of the limitations of what a laser can do, so they had to come up with whole new science weapon to replace it.

[@cedriceric9730]

as in attacks on humans and ground vehicles? yes , but its still too big for that role

[@zane___k7333]

Well simple. You get multiple iron beans in different locations and focus them on the same target.

[@jakemeloney4366]

Iron beam Vs mirror coated f140 fighter jet armed like the Taliban. Easy clap

[@pkwithmeplease]

If range is the problem. The simple fix is more instalation of the device

[@ebholoijieh4284]

The only limitation for such weapons are power. What if you can generate a lot of power by using a mobile nuclear reactor.

[@Lucky14970]

Yeah, because nothing says, "What a brilliant idea" like the unfortunate aftermath of an enemy destroying one of these nuclear powered laser weapons and then the area having to deal with nuclear fallout and radiation poisoning for years on end. Super good idea dude, why didn't they think of that?! I can't believe at least 4 other people read this comment and were like, "Totally!! What a great idea!!!" Absolute f'n idiots.

[@likeminds1181]

@@Lucky14970 Your argument is nonsense. Base on your analogy I apply it to this example...can you imagine an adversary country of the US sinking its Aircraft Carrier, a nuclear powered one, what a nuclear fallout that may be?" Some folks like you would say do not build aircraft carriers. Sorry man, keep your fear mongering to you!

[@gio-ko7kf]

@@Lucky14970 Nuclear reactors don’t simply explode like that, especially mobile nuclear reactors.

[@HexaSquirrel]

Better off using supercapacitors with an external power source: internal combustion, gas-turbines or large solar, though solar has its limitations. The security issues regarding a tiny SMR or RTG would be immense.

[@kylegrant9980]

Like an aircraft carrier.

[@RollTide24-7]

The world is about to see exactly what the Iron Beam CAN DO! 🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱

[@jakemeloney4366]

This dunya is all yours buddy

[@robertkho7280]

Why explain how it works are you not giving free info to your enemy?

[@roelsvideosandstuffs1513]

All thing looks good until you hit a wrong target. Maybe laser is more forgiving. Also I won't be surprised if they are already building prism technology such as prism tank.

[@johnhemryjson8673]

It slows and is the missile have a strong still it will be on the ground before the laser can get it

[@Anant2014Me]

Way to go Israel - hope someday India will develop & launch the same indigenously without relying on foreign help.

[@jsavage86]

india doesnt need weapons.

[@collinwhites9833]

At several dollars a beam vs thousands of dollars per interceptor missile... I suspect the system will become a ship standard, maybe a jet standard eventually....

[@gigacanno750]

@@collinwhites9833 Star Wars/Star Trek, here we come!

[@jakemon4550]

Red beam, once it turns blue that is when you know they finally perfected it. The highest ionized energy produces blue light.

[@ClaraSticks.like.figure]

Its infrared light you can't see with ur naked eyes

[@jakemon4550]

@@ClaraSticks.like.figure copied from google: Emitted from the sun, blue light is naturally occurring in the world around us. On the spectrum of visible light (light that humans can see), blue light has the highest energy and the shortest wavelength. So yeah you are right, but blue light is what you will see since you can't see UV light.

[@jakemon4550]

@@ClaraSticks.like.figure red visible light is about the lowest energy type of light, if you can see it, and it is red it is low ionization, if it is blue that means it is the highest or even higher because you can't see the UV light. So even if 99% of the light is UV, some will lose energy due to the atmosphere, light a lightning bolt it will appear blue or very light blue even if it is UV light, but due to the loss of energy from colliding with oxygen and other things in the air it will dip down into the blue visible spectrum.

[@jakemon4550]

@@ClaraSticks.like.figure sorry I am an engineer not a writer, so I will try to explain again since I wrote kind of badly. So basically you are right, but humans can't see UV, but a UV laser would lose energy and part of it would turn blue, depending on what material it is going through it could show different colours, but basically you can know a laser is super high-powered if it starts looking more like a lightning bolt bluish colour instead of a red light.

[@FuckACopRestInPiss]

Average home is 6kw per household. For 3 residents.

[@rf8003]

How many of this weapon can be used simultaneously...?

[@Agent77X]

I think the laser works very well from what I heard. Much better then U.S. Patriotic missile batteries!

[@gigacanno750]

From what I'm gathering, its biggest issue is range, which is kinda important. good for drones, at least.

[@Logicallyanswered.]

I wasn't financial free until my 40's and I'm still in my 40's, bought my third house already, earn on a monthly through passive income, and got 4 out of 5 goals, just hope it encourages someone that it doesn't matter if you don't have any of them right now, you can start TODAY regardless your age INVEST and change your future! Investing in the financial market is a grand choice I made. Great video! Thanks for sharing! Very inspiring! I love this.

[@Logicallyanswered.]

I invest across the top markets but not by myself though. I follow the guidelines of “ERIKA FERNANDEZ MURILLO”. I can correctly say she's worth her salt as an investment advisor as her diversification skills is top-notch, I say this because of the results, as my portfolio grows by averages of 20 to 30% every month, unlike I can say for my IRA which has just been trudging along. my portfolio just mirrors what she places and not just on some particular industries of my choosing.she gave me that financial freedom I needed.

[@Moonlambo2377]

@@Logicallyanswered. That's great, your investment advisor must be really good, I have seen testimonies of people using the help of investment advisors in making them more financially stable. Do you mind sharing more info on this person?

[@Logicallyanswered.]

look her up on the internet with her name. she's quite popular for her services as she was recently featured on CNN & CNBC. She can work with anyone irrespective of where you're located.

[@CarFreeSegnitz]

Scam. You will get more value from your money burning it for heat than following this investment advise.

[@3kkk514]

Can iron beam capable to destroy hypersonic missile and icbm nuke missile?

[@shrk128]

I believe that consideration should be given to whether the system should be stationed on top of skyscrapers; most cities have skyscrapers, and those often have access to major power lines. The height of skyscrapers reduces the distance between the emitter and the target projectile, and those projectiles are top-down attack projectiles, meaning that the loss of any negative elevation fire areas is minimal in effect on the system's effectiveness. Additionally, skyscrapers are located in the heart of the city, where the largest population centers, and largest targets, are often located, meaning better value per interception. Finally, having the system in a hard to reach area which mostly one way to reach it that is easily guarded and denied means that it's much easier to secure the system, in theory.

[@firstlast9731]

They may have better range on skyscrapers but to get the full capability that have to be positioned near the border and outskirts of big cities so that it can strike the missile before its too late. If they are on skyscrapers that leaves a lot of the rest of the city at risk. Also, there aren't very many supertall skyscrapers there... Not like New York or something

[@dkDeMKN]

Good intentions, but it sounds like a war crime. Putting a military asset on top of a civilian building within a city. It'll be more effective to place it around a city, rather than in it.

[@hadarmarom4284]

The problem for the United States is that they do not yet have a starting product of a laser system, and this will force them to reach the same stage in Israel for decades to come. Because Israel pushed the really strong laser project that Israel did and opened a gap with the competition

[@iamthepotato4312]

The US isn't behind on anything, they are partners 🤣🤣🤣

[@byloyuripka9624]

what kind of crack are you smoking? usa has spent way too much developing prototype laser weapons for many years. had one mounted on a 747 and gave up

[@chnsm]

Israel need to have American permission before selling weapons, why do you think nobody buying iron dome (like taiwan, south Korea, UAE, Ukraine) there is a market for it but it isn't allowed because some stuff will destroy the similar, American products in the market, so America prevents Israel from selling some products and some countries (Israel is only allowed to sell to third world countries and only weapons that are not equal or better from American weapons), its part of the alliance between Israel and the USA, especially after Israel Lavi jet project (jet that is better than the f-16 with half the price, and it was created when f-16 was fairly new, basically will destroy the sellings of f-16)

[@ronblack7870]

i read us has come to the conclusion that laser weapons are impractical so it's not a top project anymore.they tested it on airplanes and on ships . a nuclear ship would have enough power. 300 kw is actually not a lot of power . it's 400 horsepower. lasers are only powerfull close up . as the beam spreads the watts/ sq cm decrease rapidly.

[@BenyKarachun]

@@chnsm Israel doesn't need permission to sell the Iron Dome as it's 100 percent developmed in Israel, Azerbaijan, Romania and the US bought it, Israel even refused to give the US the source codes for the Iron Dome. It didn't sell the Iron Dome to Taiwan, South Korea or Ukraine because it wasn't interested in it for its own reasons or they weren't interested in it at the end Israel needs permission to sell the David's Sling since it was co-developed.

[@hivaladeen4892]

All this development and defence because of violence towards each other. We as humans seem to make our own problems and innovate ways to resolve a problem we created. Imagine if both sides just publicly state their feelings but agreed to not use weapons/rockets to show those feelings?

[@MaverickIDN]

"Imagine". Unfortunately, we dont live in a perfect world - there would always be conflicts of interests between people. This has always been the case since our earliest ancestors.

[@skabbas89]

You're absolutely aladeem my friend.

[@byloyuripka9624]

imagine zionist stealing land and properties from other humans without weapons 🤷‍♀️ its not how zionism works

[@markjan_5]

They have, until Gaza starts launching rockets again

[@hivaladeen4892]

@@skabbas89 thank you 😘x

[@Thor_Asgard_]

12.4 miles would be amazing not short.... CRAM would be quite happy to have that range.

[@Wildminecraftwolf]

everyone's gangster till they start putting mirrors on the rockets

[@KyleFromSouthParkCA]

It would have better range in space

[@byloyuripka9624]

whoa einstein over here

[@KyleFromSouthParkCA]

@@byloyuripka9624 🔭

[@askdhuwuw]

Go Israel!

[@DerekFolan]

Radiation shielding should block Radiation up to xray ? So can it stop Nukes ? I would guess not. Xrays are Atoms so you would need to get smaller than Atoms to pass through shielding ? Like a gamma ray ? But would a gamma ray just pass right through anything since its smaller than Atoms. Could the gamma ray decay to an xray so it hits the Nuke? Probably not. Lasers are just visible light ? Why not use xrays instead since they have more energy or increase pressure to make gamma rays ?

[@FC_Dobbs48]

What is time period that the American home use that 1kWt?