Posted on 01/17/2011 10:32:27 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The IDF’s "Magic Wand" (Sharvit Kesamim) system for intercepting intermediate-range rockets was successfully tested last week, the BaMachane military magazine reports in its latest issue.
The tests took place in southern Israel last week and were conducted by the Defense Ministry and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems under the attack conditions that Israel expects. At the end of the experiments it was estimated that the system will become operational within several years.
Magic Wand is intended to deal with a wide range of threats, and is essentially designed to fill a gap between the Iron Dome system for short-range missiles, such as the Qassam, and the Arrow for long-range missiles such as the Iraqi Scud and the Iranian Shihab
(Excerpt) Read more at israelnationalnews.com ...
Israel keeps getting better & better at intercepting missiles, while Obama shuts down programs in the US.
Maybe we can buy their technology someday.
God bless Israel.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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Nov 10, 2009: Raytheon was awarded two contracts totalling more than USD100 million in early October by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems for the continued development of the David's Sling short-range ballistic missile defence (BMD) system. Developed jointly by Rafael and Raytheon and funded by the Israel Missile Defense Organisation (IMDO) and US Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the David's Sling Weapon System (DSWS) is designed to counter rockets and ballistic missiles fired from a range of 40 to 250 km, as well as cruise missiles and gliding bombs.
Where do you think they got the technology?
We have the technology,
they have the actual will to use it...
They have a prime minister who is a patriot.
We have a president who is something else entirely.
Israel has successfully tested solid state lasers that can shoot down artillery shells and mortars. Within a few years, it will be powerful enough to shoot down rockets. Obastard thinks that having the ability to defend ourselves is just too provocative and that weakness makes us less likely to be attacked.
“Maybe we can buy their technology someday.”
I’ll trade for some F-22s. You’re not building them, anyway.
It casts a 'protection from missile spell'... 500 miles radius!
:-P
(Sorry, I couldn't resist!)
So what do we do in between now and “a few years?” Hope we don’t have a missile attack?
Actually it takes far more laser energy to kill an artillery shell or a mortar. A rocket is a far softer target.
OTOH, tracking, pointing, and fire control are more difficult with rockets.
At the time, the Israelis had successfully boosted the diode lasers to the 10 kW range. I think that the reason that they have used it to shoot down artillery shells and mortars is because they are relatively short range weapons. The shoot-down was done from a range of no more than a couple of miles. They wanted to boost the power to the 100 kW range to give them power AND distance. In the not to distant future, I can see lasers on warships to protect against airborne threats and maybe on large bombers for protection against SA and AA missiles.
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