Israel deployed the first Iron Beam systems on Sunday, to complement its Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow multi-layered defense architecture.

Israel deployed the first Iron Beam systems on Sunday, to complement its Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow multi-layered defense architecture.

  • artyom@piefed.socialEnglish
    4·
    1 day ago

    These seem like defense-only devices, no? Seems like every country should have one. They can probably also shoot down satellites?

    • knightly the Sneptaur@pawb.socialEnglish
      81·
      15 hours ago

      A report from an Israeli defense publicatiom says it’s “capable of 100kW of power focused on a spot the diameter of a coin at a distance of 10km”

      So, definitely not an anti-satellite weapon from the ground, or even high-atmosphere, but it ought to work if they mounted one to another satellite.

      That said, there’s no such thing as a defensive-only weapon. Laser weapons can be deadly to people too, and even at a fraction of their rated power output they could blind people instantly.

      • FiniteBanjo@feddit.onlineEnglish
        11·
        8 hours ago

        Depending on the amount of atmosphere and whether it’s above or below ozone, it’s range will change.

      • scholar@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        15 hours ago

        However the power requirements make them impractical for offensive applications and they can’t do much damage against concrete and the like, so there’s not much risk of harm if they were to become commonplace.