General (Res.) Eyal Zamir and current Director General of the Ministry of Defense commented on the possibility that the laser system for intercepting missiles and aircraft will soon be put into operation. Zamir spoke at the Herzliya conference of the Institute for Policy and Strategy at Reichman University, along with a number of other Israeli security officials.
"The pace of development of the ground laser system, Magan-Or, is very impressive. In the near future, we will start another series of tests of the system. After the series of tests, we will gradually begin to deploy the first system, against the threats in the various sectors. This will not happen overnight, but the excellent people in the Defense Ministry, the IDF, and the defense industries are working around the clock to shorten the schedules as much as possible," said Zamir.
DG Zamir: “The Iron Beam high-power laser system is being developed at an impressive pace, and we will conduct another series of system tests soon. Following the tests, we will gradually begin to deploy the first systems in the field to ensure protection against various threats.” pic.twitter.com/dfSn4zzPlU
— Ministry of Defense (@Israel_MOD) May 22, 2023
The Magen-Or system, known in English as the 'Iron Beam' is supposed to provide protection against shooting at a steep trajectory, and at a minimal cost, in comparison to the Iron Dome and David Sling interception systems. It should be noted that during the "Shield and Arrow" operation, the David sling system was used twice operationally for the first time, to more accurately intercept rockets fired from the Gaza Strip at a longer range inside Israel.
In his words, Zamir also referred to artificial intelligence technology and said that "Our mission is to turn the State of Israel into an AI powerhouse. What we did in cyber, we must do in robotics and artificial intelligence. Our cyber capabilities are among the most advanced in the world, and they are being perfected all the time. The reason for this is the correct identification of cyber as a security, economic, national, and international goal.”
“The Iron Beam high-power laser system is being developed at an impressive pace, and we will conduct another series of system tests soon. Following the tests, we will gradually begin to deploy the first system in the field to ensure protection against various threats.”
— The Country of Israel 🇮🇱 #AmYisraelChai ✡ (@JanetNewcomb) May 23, 2023
Zamir added: “The cyber industry brings enormous value to the economy and the Israeli economy and Israel has become a role model. Therefore, this model should serve as an example of preparation for the field of the future, AI. Some define AI as the next revolution in changing the face of combat on the battlefield. The AI ​​technologies will bring with them many additional capabilities such as the operation of platforms in groups and swarms and combat systems that operate independently."
Israel says it’s aiming to become an “artificial intelligence superpower" by streamlined combat decision-making & autonomous warfare capabilities https://t.co/xviOUylGWR #AI #algorithm #bayesian #bigdata #datascience #deeplearning #machinelearning #neuralnetworks #intelligence
— Goforth Scientific (@GoforthSci) May 22, 2023
"All of these will be integrated into the battlefield and will give an advantage to those who know how to develop and use them operationally. We are working to establish a dedicated organization, which will focus on artificial intelligence technologies and robotics; both are related to each other and together they are key to solving the emerging challenges around us," he concluded.
