After the announcement that the IDF’s new laser defense system has shot down around 40 Hezbollah drones during the war, along with a Rafael Advanced Defense Systems announcement about its capabilities, IDF St.-Sgt.-Maj. A. told The Jerusalem Post in a recent exclusive interview that his time on the laser team protecting the country with this game-changing cutting-edge system has been “incredible.”
A. is a reservist who was stationed in the North to work on how to operate the laser in real combat situations, and who had spent time in the IDF’s air defense units mostly over a decade ago, but returned to assist when the current war broke out. He said that he and everyone else had to learn how to best operate the laser in real time in the field, since it is essentially something that no one has ever done before.
“We received the system, we made adjustments while operating in the field, and we improved, with the [help of the] industry developers [Rafael], after we got a better understanding of what we needed to increase our shoot-down success,” said A. There was a small group that had operated a laser before them, and there were the scientific experts from Rafael whom A. could not praise enough, but there was no real manual or guidebook, as he and his team were writing a new page in history. (Read More)
