The Israeli Ministry of Defense published a video demonstrating the capabilities of an air-based combat laser system. The tests, according to the agency, were successful, and the drone was shot down.
A light single-engine Cessna 208B Grand Caravan aircraft was chosen as a platform for testing the laser. The monoplane has a cruising speed of up to 340 kilometers per hour and can carry up to 1315 kilograms of payload.
The footage shows an airplane-type drone launched from a catapult. The flight passes over the water surface and the laser pointing at the flying drone is shown through the monitor display. The laser beam destroys the flying vehicle in the area of the connection of the wing and fuselage.
Other details of the experiment, including the distance to the target, are not reported. For the purposes of secrecy, the footage with some elements of the aircraft and the guidance point were specially blurred.
The annotation only states that the high-power laser system will become part of the multi-level Israeli defense system.
Nikolay Grishchenko
