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Commercial Jets Will Soon Be Firing Lasers

posted by LaminatorX on Wednesday March 05 2014, @11:00AM   
from the throw-me-a-bone-here dept.

AnonTechie writes:

First Stop: Skyshield ... Next Stop: Skynet"

From an article in Wired:

Israel is finally ready to combat shoulder-launched missiles and they're going to do it with lasers. Israel's Ministry of Defense announced Wednesday that SkyShield, developed by Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems, had successfully completed testing and is certified for commercial use to combat the threat of man-portable surface-to-air missile systems (MANPADS) by combining advanced laser detection and disruption technologies.

• Re:Not a threatRe:Not a threat (Score: 3, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday March 05 2014, @07:47PM

  by DeathMonkey (1380) on Wednesday March 05 2014, @07:47PM (#11483) Journal

  According to this: [state.gov]

  "More than 40 civilian aircraft have been hit by MANPADS missiles since the 1970s."
   
  So it's not entirely uncommon. Whether the risk analysis works out it its favor I can't say. But, acting like it's not a credible threat is also wrong.

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• Re:Not a threat(Score: 0) by Yog-Yogguth on Thursday March 06 2014, @02:57AM

  by Yog-Yogguth (1862) on Thursday March 06 2014, @02:57AM (#11687) Journal

  Wow that was a much larger number than I was aware of. I obviously can't mod you up but thank you!

  I completely agree it's a rather limited and fairly unusual danger. However I would not be surprised if it might explain what some "kids with beards" are playing when aiming green lasers at aircraft (and occasionally other targets).

  --
  Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))

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