cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/11110223
Archive link: https://archive.ph/3uUVa
Israel’s Elbit Systems has revealed that it has been contracted to develop aircraft-mountable versions of its XCalibur high-power laser systems. Primarily intended for use on jets and helicopters, the idea is to provide low-cost per-shot solutions for threats such as drones and missiles.
This will overcome the main challenge of firing expensive missile interceptors to knock out these threats; the economics don’t add up. Add a few cents per shot, if a laser beam can be used instead of a $40,000 and $100,000 Tamir missile (those used in Israel’s Iron Dome), then interception becomes far less costly.
Especially when the incoming targets cost a fraction of this. If interception costs can be dramatically reduced (perhaps even cheaper than the target), then the economics of such an engagement could be flipped on its head, i.e., drones become the expensive element, not the interceptors.
This news came to light when Elbit’s President and CEO, Bezhalel Machlis, disclosed the deal during the company’s end-of-year results to shareholders. He announced that the deal was agreed in late 2025, which will aim to deliver a pod-type setup for jets and a helicopter variant called “Sting.”
"Israel"’s new “Sting” in the tail
“The advantage of the aerial laser is that it is less affected by humidity, rain, dust, and atmospheric conditions the higher you go,” Machlis told shareholders. This means that these systems will be able to operate above the clouds, for instance.
It should also mean that the system should be able to strike threats before they arrive because it can see them from the air. ” This would also be a game-changer as conventional air defense systems, like the Iron Dome, can suffer due to bad weather, line-of-sight blocking from terrain, and shorter engagement range due to ground location.
Having lasers on aircraft means you can operate above cloud level, identify and track targets earlier, and engage them sooner.
However, there are still many technical challenges to overcome before such a system can become viable for aircraft mounting; namely, cooling and size. “You need to miniaturize the elements,” Machlis added. “While moving, you need to lock yourself on a target and in a very precise way,” he explained. High-energy lasers also generate a lot of heat, which needs to be managed for obvious reasons. This typically requires a lot of cooling gear, and space is at a premium on aircraft.
Many challenges to overcome
To this end, any aircraft variant will need to have some form of compact generators and cooling systems. Having such a system on aircraft also introduces other issues, like tracking and stabilization, when the target is small and both the target and interceptor are moving.
Any solution will need ultra-precise tracking systems and adaptive optics to correct beam distortion.
But, Machlis is confident that Elbit can “overcome all these challenges,” and after “advancing with large investment, they will be operational with the air force, and I think there is a big market for this worldwide,” he added.
“I also want to add that [the] high-power laser is not just a defensive weapon. As you can understand, it has more applications,” Machlis said. As Breaking Defense points out, it is not entirely clear what he meant by this comment.
Oh no! The figured it out! Batteries and capacitors are famously light. They practically fly on their own! If they continue with this flawless plan, Iran is finished!
Tbh though there's surprisingly powerful hobbyist lasers on YouTube that i feel like could reasonably scale up to aircraft sized at a reasonable weight (except maybe the nuclear generator it might need)
Like there's handheld ones where it's like "wow i don't want to be a narc and say these should be illegal but these should be illegal"
My point was mostly that this is an engineering challenge that has so far not been attempted a lot. Most weaponized laser systems that exist or are being tested are ship- or vehicle-mounted for a reason.
Also, with how distance makes lasers less powerful, those hand-held lasers from youtube would do nothing at all to an incoming drone. Nevermind one of Iran's rockets, those things are way too fast to get destroyed in time.
But sure, you can mount some sort of laser on a plane. I would even grant that some of the currently existing laser weapons, which range from 10KW to hundreds of KW (in many cases exact stats are unknown) could be installed on a transport plane. You'd need at least two because you cannot reload the capacitors in the air. But realistically, you need many more then two if this is supposed to be an effective defense. If Israel wants to retrofit dozens of planes with frickin laser beams and have them continuously circle, I welcome the plan because that means less jet fuel for bombing runs and less runways free for the jets and bombers carrying those out.
I looked into high powered lasers and afaik in America using them outside of like industrial applications is already illegal, but making them is not.