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The Chinese-made Silent Hunter anti-drone laser weapon has been spotted deployed in the United Arab Emirates following a series of Iranian strikes.
A video showing the truck-mounted system deployed at an airport in the Gulf country — allegedly Zayed International Airport, also known as Abu Dhabi International Airport — surfaced online on April 6.
The footage came right after Iran renewed its strikes against the UAE. The Islamic Republic launched 12 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles, and four drones at the country on May 4, according to the Emirate defense ministry. The Fujairah Oil Industries Zone was hit. Three Indian nationals were wounded there as a result of the attack.
Three vessels, including a tanker owned by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, were also targeted close to the Gulf nation.
The strikes were likely carried out in response to “Project Freedom,” an operation launched by the United States military to guide stranded ships out of the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump halted the operation a day after it was launched to facilitate talks with Iran.
The Silent Hunter was developed by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, and has been marketed in the past by Poly Technologies.
The system reportedly saw action before in Saudi Arabia, where it was used to guard against drones launched from Yemen by the Houthis, who are allied to Iran. It is unclear, however, if the UAE got the system from the Kingdom, or received it directly from China.
The main component of the system is a fiber optic laser that is reported to be more powerful than 30 kilowatts but less than 100 kilowatts. The system is also equipped with an electro-optical targeting system, completed with a phase array radar. The range of the system is reported to be around four kilometers.
Silent Hunter is not the only laser-based weapon currently deployed in the UAE. A recent report by the Financial Times revealed that Israel sent a version of the Iron Beam laser to the UAE amid the war with Iran.
Not much is known about the weapon, which was developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, but its range is said to be ten kilometers.
The UAE took the burnt of Iranian retaliatory strikes after the start of the American-Israeli war on the Islamic Republic. The deployment of Silent Hunter shows that the country is working to reinforce its air defense network, which was badly hit, by any means available.
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