An attack involving swarms of dozens or hundreds of drones simultaneously targeting cities or strategic facilities is one of the greatest nightmares facing air defense systems worldwide and Israel Aerospace Industries believes it has an effective solution.
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) on Thursday unveiled its newly developed “Hypnosis” system, designed to disrupt and neutralize a wide range of aerial threats based on satellite navigation, primarily swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles launched in large numbers in an effort to make interception more difficult while increasing the likelihood of strikes on their intended targets.
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) on Thursday unveiled its newly developed 'Hypnosis' system
(Photo: Israel Aerospace Industries)
According to IAI, Hypnosis provides operators with “soft defense” capabilities by disrupting and deceiving the satellite navigation systems guiding those drones or other types of threats, which the company did not specify, preventing them from accurately reaching their designated targets.
The system combines several field-deployed end units that operate in coordination from a dedicated command and control center. Tests conducted on the system showed that it is capable of autonomously neutralizing multiple threats approaching the same target simultaneously from different directions.
The company said the new system can protect sensitive strategic sites, energy infrastructure, military bases and force concentrations. Hypnosis was developed by IAI’s Systems, Missiles and Space Group.
According to Guy Bar Lev, executive vice president and head of the group, “It represents a significant leap forward in the ability to protect critical assets by serving as a new, effective and cost-efficient layer added to the multi-layered defense concept, which includes, among other things, kinetic interception systems.”
However, the company declined to say which militaries around the world are considering purchasing the system or whether the Israel Defense Forces is among them.
Since the outbreak of the October 7 war, IAI has accelerated the development of new systems in an effort to provide technological responses to emerging threats facing the IDF on the fronts where it is operating.
According to Chairman Levy, these developments stem from “the understanding that the modern battlefield requires integrated, multi-layered defense capabilities capable of dealing with a variety of threats simultaneously.”