Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. defense contractor showed off its anti-drone laser weapon system, the Drone Dome, this week at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget.
The system detects, tracks and neutralizes hostile drones using smart sensors and electronic jamming equipment.
Israel sent 10 defense companies in its delegation to the annual gathering of the world’s buyers and sellers of military hardware.
According to Rafael, Drone Dome is the first such system on the market to use a laser beam to locate and destroy hostile drones.
The system, which operates in all weather with a 360-degree circular coverage, has a range of several kilometers and uses an electro-optical/infrared sensor and radar to detect a threat. Once picked up, the data is combined, correlated and the operated is alerted to the presence of the hostile UAV.
At that point, there is an option for an automatic interference operation per pre-defined settings, or the next step is carried out by the operator, according to FlightGlobal.
The system also comes equipped with a jamming system to disrupt the communications between the targeted drone and its operator.
The system was also showcased at the LAAD SECURITY 2016 exhibition in Brazil, according to IsraelDefense.
It provides innovative defense against Micro and Nano UAVs that are used by terrorists to carry out aerial attacks and collect intelligence.
Drones have become a more serious threat as the technology has escalated from reconnaissance to carrying explosive payloads as well.
Recently Israel has intercepted drones penetrating its airspace from across the northern and southern borders. In both cases the unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) were Iranian-made, although the drone in the north may have been sent by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group, and that in the south was likely sent by Gaza’s Hamas ruling terrorist organization.
