The Times - UK (2022-02-03)

32 Thursday February 3 2022 | the times

Wo r l d

Israel is set to deploy the world’s first
ground-based laser weapons system to
shoot down incoming missiles and will
do so within a year, its prime minister
has said.
It will be deployed in the south of the
country near Gaza, where Palestinian
militant groups regularly fire rockets
and incendiary balloons into Israel. It is
initially intended as a back-up for the
existing missile interception system
known as the Iron Dome, but the lasers
could in future be deployed on aircraft
or warships.
Announcing the plans, Naftali Ben-
nett, the prime minister, said it would
“enable Israel to surround itself with a
laser wall that will protect us and deny
the enemy the strongest card it has”.
Until now the Iron Dome system has
fired interceptor missiles, costing
around £40,000 each, to destroy rock-
ets. However, as Israel’s enemies have
stockpiled tens of thousands of rockets
— particularly Hamas in Gaza and
Hezbollah in Lebanon — there is a
concern that the country will run out of
interceptors in a protracted conflict.

Bennett said the laser system was de-

signed to change this, adding that Israel

would also sell the technology abroad.

“This new generation of air defence

will serve our friends in the region,” he

promised, days after Iranian-backed

Houthi rebels in Yemen fired a missile

at the United Arab Emirates while

President Herzog of Israel was visiting.

Lasers used as weapons have been

considered in the past for missile de-

fence but their limited effectiveness in

overcast skies is a problem. One of the

solutions would be to use airborne

lasers carried above the clouds.

Senior defence officials said Ben-

nett’s timeframe was “over-optimistic”

and it could take up to three years.

Other countries have experimented

with laser systems, but they are often

considered too cumbersome or costly.

The only operational one is the US

Navy’s LaWS system, deployed on the

USS Portland in the Gulf of Aden.

Israel will deploy lasers to

shoot down Gaza missiles

Israel
Anshel Pfeffer Jerusalem

GAZA

Gaza City ISRAEL

Land

Israel’s laser defence system

Air

An airborne version of the weapon

could in future be deployed on

manned or unmanned aircraft

A solid-state laser

system in southern

Israel will intercept

rockets fired from

Gaza

Laser

Sea

Naval missile boats

could also use

lasers to shoot

down rockets from

other directions

Five miles

efence system

GaGaGazGaGGGaGGGaGaGaGaza CityGazGaGGaGaGGGaGGazGGaGazazazazazaazazazazazazaza Cza Cityaa Cita a Ca CaCia aCia CitCCCCityCCiCityCCiitityititittyyy ISRISAELL

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1

(^32)
The president of Guinea-Bissau sur-
vived a gun battle around his govern-
ment compound amid fears of a coup
that would have extended west Africa’s
recent backslide from democracy.
Gunfire rang out for about five hours
in the capital, Bissau, as unknown gun-
men battled security forces. Inside the
compound, President Embalo and his
prime minister, Nuno Gomes Nabiam,
were having a meeting.
Last night Embalo spoke from the
safety of his presidential palace, declar-
banks shut their doors, while military
vehicles laden with troops drove
through the streets. The confusion
raised fears of the region’s latest coup
after those in Mali, Guinea and Burkina
President survives five-hour gun battle at palace
ing that the “attack on democracy” had
been thwarted, although several secur-
ity personnel had been killed. He sug-
gested that the violence may have been
linked to drug trafficking and denied
the army was involved.
“It wasn’t just a coup. It was an at-
tempt to kill the president, the prime
minister and all the cabinet,” he said.
Embalo, 49, said he faced “sustained
fire from heavy arms for five hours”
with a military adviser, minister and
two bodyguards. He did not say how
many had died.
Onlookers had earlier been seen flee-
ing the area, markets were closed and
Faso in the past 18 months. Ecowas, the
regional bloc, and the African Union
condemned what they said was an
“attempted coup”.
Initial reports suggested Embalo, a
former prime minister who was elected
president in 2019, had been taken hos-
tage but he told local news agencies the
situation was under control.
Embalo said it “was well prepared
and organised and could also be related
to people involved in drug trafficking”.
He added: “I can assure you that no
[military] camp joined this attempted
coup. It was isolated.” The arrests had
begun of those involved, he said.
Guinea-Bissau
Richard Assheton Lagos
IVORY
COAST
MALI
LIBERIA
GUINEA
SIERRA LEONE
SENEGAL
GUINEA-
BISSAU
Atlantic
Ocean 100 miles
US warship
defends UAE
from Houthis
Yemen
Richard Spencer
Middle East Correspondent
The US is sending an extra warship and
more fighter jets to the Gulf to defend
the United Arab Emirates from missile
attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The USS Cole, a guided missile de-
stroyer, would be sent to “partner with
the UAE navy”, Lloyd Austin, the
American defence secretary, said. He
also announced “fifth generation”
fighter jets, a category that includes the
latest F-22 and F-35 models, would be
deployed, probably at the al-Dhafra air-
base in Abu Dhabi.
US officials confirmed that al-Dha-
fra’s American anti-missile capabilities
were among those deployed over the
past 16 days as the Houthis made three
attacks on the UAE. In the first, on Jan-
uary 17, three people were killed when a
drone struck an oil depot. Missiles fired
then and on Monday were intercepted.
Redeployments of military assets to
the Gulf by the Trump and Biden ad-
ministrations have demonstrated the
difficulty of fulfilling promises to with-
draw from the Middle East in favour of
a greater focus on Asia.
Migrants found dead
after Greek ‘pushback’
Turkey Twelve migrants have
frozen to death after being
pushed back by Greek border
guards while trying to make their
way into the European Union, the
Turkish government has claimed.
Suleyman Soylu, the interior
minister, posted blurred photos of
the bodies, which he said were
found “without shoes and
stripped of their clothes” near the
border crossing outside the town
of Ipsala. Soylu described the
guards as “thugs” while accusing
the EU of being “helpless, weak
and inhumane”. It was claimed
that one of the victims had been
taken to hospital but later died.
Greece denies accusations of
so-called pushbacks. (AP)
Taliban will let women
go back to university
Afghanistan Women are to return
to universities in two of the
country’s 34 provinces, the
Taliban have announced. The
culture and information ministry
said that men and women would
return as part of a staggered
process in Nangarhar and
Kandahar. The classes will be
gender segregated with men
attending in the morning and
women in the afternoon. (AP)
Row over EU plan for
‘sustainable energy’
Belgium The European Union’s
plans to include investment in
nuclear power and natural gas as
part of a sustainable energy
future were criticised by
environmentalists. Germany,
which depends on gas, said
nuclear power was “risky, too
expensive”. Luxembourg and
Austria have already raised the
possibility of legal disputes over
the green notion of nuclear. (AP)
Monica Vitti, star of
L’Avventura, dies at 90
Italy Monica Vitti,
who starred in
L’Avventura and other
films of the 1960s by
Michelangelo
Antonioni, has died
aged 90. She was an acclaimed
comic actress and made films until
the 1980s before living a quiet life
with her husband in Rome, where
she had dementia in her later
years. (AP) Obituary, page 51
Team has a new name
after ditching Redskins
United States Washington’s
American football team has
unveiled its new name after
ditching the term Redskins, which
had come to be seen as racist.
It will now be known as the
Commanders in a nod to the US
capital’s military ties. The team
carried the Redskins name and
logo for 87 years until 2020 but
both were criticised as offensive
to Native Americans.
It’s time for Groundhog
Day... all over again
United States Punxsutawney Phil
appeared before a crowd for the
first time since 2020 for his famous
weather forecast at Gobbler’s
Knob, near the Pennnsylvania
town from which he takes his
name. The groundhog was held
before thousands of people as
men in top hats studied his
behaviour and declared “a long,
lustrous six more weeks of winter”.
The tradition began in 1886.
Chief minister
fuels the cult of
‘god-like’ Modi
G
iven the chance to
praise Narendra
Modi, India’s prime
minister, the chief
minister of the
second largest state did not hold
back (Amrit Dhillon writes).
“I am not saying this because I
am a chief minister [of Madhya
Pradesh] and a Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) worker,” Shivraj
Singh Chouhan said on a visit to
Goa. “I am saying what I feel in
my heart. He is superhuman and
has traces of god in him.”
Modi, 71, and his party face
crucial elections this month in
Uttar Pradesh, India’s most
populous state but criticism is
growing over his handling of the
pandemic and the economy.
K Chandrashekar Rao, the
chief minister of Telangana state,
described him as “all style and no
substance”, adding: If it is the
Punjab election, he will wear a
turban, In Manipur, it will be a
Manipuri cap.”
ADNAN ABIDI/REUTERS
Schoolchildren show their enthusiasm for Narendra Modi, who as prime minister is viewed as a national parent bestowing benefits