The return of Star Wars: How to protect air space from missiles

As the spectre of nuclear annihilation returns, western governments will surely revisit the option of a defensive system, rather massive retaliation. Are laser guns and death rays the answer, asks Steven Cutts

Star Wars: science fiction or not so far, far away in our future? (Lucasfilm/Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock)

Long ago, long before we had any hope of actually building one, science fiction writers were starting to talk about “death rays”. On the big screen, Flash Gordon and his friends began to fire death rays at each other with giddy abandon and there were some in high office who decided to take it seriously. Before the Second World War had even kicked off, the British government decided to spend time and money trying to develop a death ray (aka – a “directed energy weapon”) to be used by the Royal Air Force. Within a matter of months, it became obvious that it would take decades to overcome the technical obstacles involved and the design was largely abandoned. On a more positive note, some of the scientists assigned to the project picked up on the possibility of using radio signals to detect the position of enemy aircraft.

In effect, radar was born out of the very first death ray project and this same system would serve the Allies well in the Battle of Britain and beyond. This sequence of events would be repeatedly be played out again and again in many countries over the next few decades with one government after another trying to develop the mythical “directed energy weapon”. Each project in turn would begin with a spirit of optimism and end when the scientists involved decided to submit a report saying “no, we still don’t know how to do it”. Now, in the third decade of the 21st century, a viable laser based system is about to be introduced. The Israeli government plans to deploy just such a system in the near future. A laser system will be used to augment the existing “Iron Dome” system already used by the IDF. In recent years, Israel has been hit by multiple missile strikes. A stream of relatively low tech rockets are fired from several miles outside their own border and start to fall on populated areas.

The Israeli Iron Dome missile defence system intercepts rockets fired by the Hamas movement towards southern Israel from Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip (AFP/Getty)