All news
30 Jan, 12:59

US Iron Dome missile defense system to destroy nukes with lasers — newspaper

According to experts, Donald Trump's proposed system is extremely expensive and technically complex

WASHINGTON, January 30. /TASS/. The newest Iron Dome missile defense system developed by the US envisages the deployment of interceptors in space equipped with lasers to destroy nuclear weapons, the Financial Times newspaper reported.

As previously reported, US President Donald Trump has ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to submit a design and deployment plan for the latest missile defense system within 60 days. The US president has dubbed it "Iron Dome for America" in homage to Israel's famous air defense system. But Trump's vision of a "next-generation system, including space-based lasers, is actually much closer to Ronald Reagan’s so-called Star Wars program, launched in 1983 at the height of the Cold War," the newspaper said.

"Developing a kind of Star Wars 2.0 would cost hundreds of billions of dollars. The technological challenges it faces are immense," nuclear experts told the newspaper. They also warned that the initiative could prompt China and Russia to take countermeasures that would negate its capabilities.

According to experts, Trump's proposed system is extremely expensive and technically complex. Trump's executive order calls for the deployment of "space-based interceptors," a web of satellites, some of which are equipped with lasers. At the same time, another layer of interceptors will be developed at a lower altitude in case the lasers fail, the Financial Times said.

Analysts say creating an impenetrable space-based missile defense shield is virtually impossible. "There is no magical security blanket," the newspaper quoted Tom Karako, a leading missile expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), as saying. Detecting, intercepting and destroying nuclear ballistic missiles in the so-called boost phase, the three to five minutes before they enter orbit, would require laser beams capable of hitting a target hundreds of kilometers away. Such technology does not exist today.

According to Fabian Hoffmann, a missile expert at the Oslo Nuclear Project research center, mini nuclear reactors or possibly an advanced solar panel system would be needed to power satellites equipped with lasers. "That’s not impossible but would require a major research and investment effort that couldn’t be completed in the short term," Hoffmann added.