Israel expects its “Iron Beam” laser defense system to be operational within one year, saying it will bring “a new era of warfare” as it engages in a war of drones and missiles with Iran and its regional partners.

The Jewish state spent more than $500 million on deals this week with Israeli developers Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, architect of Israel’s Iron Dome, and Elbit Systems to expand production of the shield. Dubbed the Iron Beam, the shield aims to use high-power lasers to counter an array of projectiles, including missiles, drones, rockets and mortars, Israel’s defense ministry said this week.

“It heralds the beginning of a new era in warfare,” Eyal Zamir, director general of the defense ministry, said in a statement this week. “The initial capability of the ground-based laser system… is expected to enter operational service within one year,” he said.

Israel first unveiled a prototype of the Iron Beam in 2021 and has since been working to get it up and running.

The defense ministry’s comments come as Israel presses on with wars in Gaza and Lebanon, and after its military engaged twice in direct missile attacks with Iran.

Since Israel began its war on Hamas in Gaza last year, following the October 7 attack, it has also been fighting a war with the Iran-backed “Axis of Resistance” across Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq. Iran and its partners have been seeking to overwhelm Israel’s Iron Dome by pelting it with various projectiles, from rockets and drones to mortars and ballistic missiles, experts previously said.

From southern Lebanon, where Israel is now waging a ground war, Hezbollah’s rockets have reached deep inside Israel. Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s beachside home in the coastal city of Caesarea was damaged in a drone strike claimed by the Shiite Lebanese group. One of the three drones that were launched evaded Israel’s aerial defense system.

Experts say the Iron Beam could be an added layer of defense for Israel, both in terms of effectiveness and cost.

How does it work?

The system uses a high-power laser that is stationed on the ground. With a range of hundreds of meters to several kilometers, the laser heats up the target’s shell in vulnerable areas, including its engine or warhead, until the projectile collapses.

This is different to Israel’s traditional means of destroying missiles and rockets, where radar is used to identify an incoming threat and then an interceptor missile is fired to destroy the projectile midair.

Compared to the Iron Dome, a laser shield would be cheaper, faster and more effective, experts said.

Israel has been intercepting projectiles almost daily since the war with its northern neighbor began. Just on Tuesday, some 50 projectiles crossed from southern Lebanon into Israeli territory, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, adding that some were intercepted and others weren’t.

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, which is helping produce the Iron Beam, said that a laser defense system has “almost zero cost per interception.” In 2022, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said each laser-based interception was expected to cost just $2.

The laser system would be most effective against drones, experts said, which Israel’s Iron Dome has repeatedly failed to intercept.

While Israel’s Iron Dome does intercept and destroy most projectiles, it is primarily designed to counter rockets and missiles, not drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are small, light and have a low radar signature, which means Israel’s radar systems will not always detect them the way they detect missiles, which are bigger, experts said. Drones also don’t always have a set destination and may change direction mid-travel.

The laser system will be very effective against drones, Kalisky said. The laser will be able to effectively “heat and destroy” drones and UAVs.

Who else has it?

Other governments have experimented with different types of laser systems. The US Navy has tested high-energy laser weapons that can destroy aircraft mid-flight and the United Kingdom has recently showcased a laser-energy weapon called DragonFire that can be used against aerial threats. The Pentagon has also said that China and Russia are developing lasers that could target satellites.

It is unclear if Iran has developed a laser defense system of its own. In 2022, Iran said it was “capable of manufacturing laser weapons to defend… sensitive regions,” state media said.

Iran is, however, suspected to have the Chinese-made “Silent Hunter” laser weapon, experts said, adding that the laser is not as high-powered as the ones designed for the Iron Beam.

Will it really be a gamechanger?

An Israeli Iron Beam would still have its drawbacks.

The laser system would not operate well in cloudy, rainy or hazy weather, experts said, adding that this decreases the laser’s ability to pass through the atmosphere and reach its target. The system would also require great amounts of power to keep it running.

The project’s aspirations and expected timeframe also remain unclear.

One of the main problems was that to meet their aspirations with this laser technology, governments always needed billions of dollars and decades of research, Bruchmann said. The world is yet to see if Israel “actually cracked the code this time,” and can operate it by next year, he said.

Kalisky of the INSS said that, while it is unclear if the Iron Beam will indeed be a “gamechanger” for Israel, it will still be “another layer of defense,” adding that it will likely be most effective against drones and short-range rockets and missiles. It may not be as effective against ballistic missiles, he said, which Israel’s Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 interceptors have traditionally thwarted.

Experts say the Iron Beam could also act as a deterrent to further attacks by Iran or its proxies. Last month, The New York Times reported that Hamas was keen to carry out its October 7 attack by the end of 2023, fearing Israel would start deploying its laser system, which would have been more effective against Hamas rockets. The newspaper was citing documents seized by the Israeli military and obtained by the Times.

“Iran and its proxies (may) calculate that this would be, from their point of view, a gamechanger,” Bruchmann said, “that it would seriously devalue the tens or hundreds of thousands of missiles they are building up as a strategic arsenal to deter Israel.”

Prince William has said he comes with “no other agenda” than wanting to “help people who are in need,” in a documentary series that follows the future King as he launches a five-year program he hopes will help end homelessness in six locations across the United Kingdom.

The “Homewards” program, launched in collaboration with the prince’s Royal Foundation, will provide up to £500,000 ($648,000) worth of seed funding in each of the six sites to support pioneering homeless initiatives, which – if successful – could be replicated in other locations, both nationally and internationally.

“The ultimate ambition is to prove that we can prevent homelessness in these regions so that others will come along and say, ‘well if they can do it, why can’t we?,’” the Prince of Wales said in the two-part ITV series, which aired in the UK on Wednesday and Thursday. “I don’t believe we should be living with homelessness in the 21st century.”

Filmed over a 12-month period, the documentary follows the prince and other experts on a hunt for potential solutions to the UK’s homelessness crisis.

When the Homewards program was launched last year, William faced some pushback for his involvement, seen by critics as ironic, or even counterintuitive, given his sprawling personal property portfolio. On the UK radio station LBC, he was dubbed the “prince of homelessness” by host James O’Brien.

But William opted to confront his detractors head-on in the film. “Why else would I be here if I’m not using this role properly to influence and help people where I can?” he said. “I like a big challenge, I do like that, but I can’t do it on my own.”

William’s ability to put people at their ease is a quality recognized by many featured in the documentary, including Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, who was formerly homeless but is now an advocate for the initiative, working closely with the prince.

Raised in Newport, south Wales, the 41-year-old started living on the streets when she was 15 years old. “My dad had a terminal brain tumor, he died when I was 9 years old,” she said in the documentary. “The impact on the family was enormous.”

Cohen-Hatton ended up sleeping rough on the streets of Newport to “escape” her family breakdown at home, she said. Like many UK cities, Newport has seen street homelessness almost double over the past three years, according to the documentary.

Now the chief fire officer for West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service in south England, Cohen-Hatton is supporting the prince by scouting out successful homelessness programs across the UK that could be scaled up.

“That’s one of the great things about the prince, he has real convening power. He’s able to get people around the table thinking about a perennial problem in a completely different way, and what their contribution to that could be.”

She added: “From my perspective, he has been absolutely critical in driving this forward.”

For Mick Clarke, CEO of London homelessness charity The Passage, the documentary offers viewers a glimpse of the real William.

“We see him as the real person. When he comes (to The Passage) he’s very relaxed, very chilled. I kind of get a feeling there’s a bit of a family relationship there, given the history back to when he was 11,” he explained in a Q&A after a press screening of the documentary. “He’s also very authentic and people who have lived with homelessness are very good at sussing almost instantly whether someone is straightforward, whether they are authentic or not, and he just feels very comfortable.”

He continued, “I think it shone a light on a side that we see all the time – that these guys will see in the meetings they have with him – but sometimes the public don’t.”

The second episode explored the issue of youth homelessness in the UK and saw the prince offer up Duchy of Cornwall land to build 24 new homes, which are set to be completed in 2025.

The two-part documentary will be available to stream globally on Disney+ from Friday, and viewers in the UK can catch up on ITVX.

Eight people were killed in the Serbian town of Novi Sad on Friday when the roof of a railway station collapsed, according to the country’s interior minister.

More than 30 people have been injured, according to local media reports. Two survivors pulled from under the rubble are currently in hospital, a statement from Serbia’s Interior Ministry said, and the condition of one of them is “quite serious.”

Rescuers are in contact with two others still stuck under the rubble, Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said. “We are in contact with two people under the rubble. We are working on getting them out,” he said.

Rescuers were at the scene of the accident within minutes of an emergency call being made, according to Dacic. Nearly 80 rescuers have been deployed to the scene, he said.

The rescue operation is expected to take several more hours.

Serbia’s Prime Minister, Milos Vucevic, offered his condolences to families of victims affected by the incident, while thanking first responders.

Vucevic added that those responsible for the collapse would be held accountable.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

An armed group has taken control of a military post in central Bolivia, the country’s armed forces said on Friday.

According to the Bolivian military’s statement, the “irregular armed group” kidnapped military personnel and seized weapons and ammunition from the base situated near the central Bolivian city of Cochabamba.

The armed forces’ statement urged the group to leave the barracks “immediately and peacefully,” emphasizing that these actions would be “considered treason to the country.”

The incident is the latest escalation in a period of unrest in the South American country as Morales and Arce clash ahead of the 2025 election.

In recent weeks, Morales’ supporters have set up blockades on major highways across the country, including in Cochabamba, in reaction to the government unveiling human trafficking charges against Morales. The blockades, which Bolivian police said involve “violent armed groups,” have led to food and fuel shortages in some cities.

Morales and the government have also traded accusations over an exchange that occurred in Cochabamba last weekend.

Bolivian Minister of Government Eduardo Del Castillo alleged that individuals in a car carrying Morales opened fire on police while trying to evade a checkpoint set up to deter drug trafficking. The former president denied the charge and accused the government of trying to orchestrate his assassination by firing at his vehicle.

China appears to have built a new and unusual aircraft carrier, intriguing experts with a potentially first-of-its-kind vessel that could further increase Beijing’s rapidly expanding maritime power.

Satellite imagery from Planet Labs shows a vessel with a large, open flat top under construction at Guangzhou Shipyard International on Longxue Island, in the southern province of Guangdong.

This potential new aircraft carrier “is of a somewhat unusual shape and size – much smaller than China’s previous naval aircraft carriers,” said Thomas Shugart, a former US Navy submarine commander and now a fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

But the vessel is even smaller than the Type 075 amphibious assault ships used by Beijing’s navy, suggesting that China may be building the world’s first “ostensibly civilian ‘aircraft carrier’ as an oceanographic research vessel of some sort,” Shugart added.

The existence of the new vessel was first reported by The War Zone.

China has been churning out increasingly advanced warships at a feverish pace, often matching US carrier technology.

The aircraft carrier Fujian – by far China’s biggest, most modern and most powerful carrier to date – headed to sea for its first trials earlier this year, with experts saying it could join the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) fleet by 2026.

The 80,000-ton carrier dwarfs the PLAN’s two active carriers, the 66,000-ton Shandong and the 60,000-ton Liaoning, putting it in the league of supercarriers. Only the United States Navy operates aircraft carriers bigger than the Fujian.

Naval fusion

China has also made rapid progress on the construction of the world’s largest amphibious assault ship, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

Dubbed Type 076, its flight deck spans approximately 260 meters (853 feet) by 52 meters (170 feet), which is over 13,500 square meters – nearly the area of three US football fields, the think tank said in its satellite imagery analysis.

Built in Shanghai, carrier Fujian and the Type 076 are the crown jewels of a military expansion that has seen Beijing grow its navy into the world’s largest, with more than 340 warships to its name.

But the construction of a novel aircraft carrier-type vessel in southern China could signal another shift toward Beijing’s proclaimed “military-civil fusion strategy that employs things like dual-use civil-military vessels,” said Shugart, the former submarine commander.

The vessel potentially “provides a low-cost addition to the PLA Navy’s operational capabilities in a low-threat environment and its logistical capabilities,” said Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center.

Given its light construction, the ship might serve as a helicopter or drone carrier for the China Coast Guard, which is increasingly deployed as a quasi-military force, Schuster said.

“Possessing an aviation platform would expand (the Coast Guard’s) surveillance capability in the distant waters of the southern South China Sea and potentially east of Taiwan,” Schuster added.

China launched large-scale military drills around Taiwan earlier in October, flying a record number of fighter jets and other warplanes around the island. The one-day military exercises, the latest in a series of recent war games conducted by Beijing against its neighbor, displayed an unprecedented involvement of Coast Guard vessels that operated in areas around Taiwan and its outlying islands of Matsu and Dongyin, just off China’s southeastern coast.

“The new flattop would be a significant addition to any Coast Guard quarantine enforcement operation such as that potentially practiced two weeks ago and over the last two years,” Schuster said.

Beijing has become more assertive in its home region, using the military to press its claims in the South China Sea and intimidate Taiwan – a self-governing democracy that China’s ruling Communist Party has vowed to take, by force if necessary.

But the new vessel could also be very useful in a humanitarian capacity, providing quick and cost-effective relief and evacuation in non-combat situations, Schuster said.

“It could also serve as a logistics support and repair ship in an amphibious operation once the beach was secured,” the expert added.

“It is too frail to enter a contested beach area, but they might consider it in desperate situations.”

First two-carrier exercise

In another exhibition of China’s growing naval power, the Liaoning and the Shandong completed their first-ever dual-carrier exercises in late October, according to the state-run Xinhua news service.

An aerial photo of the exercise showed the two carriers steaming side by side, with fighter jets overhead and at least 11 support ships from their carrier strike groups trailing.

Conducted in the South China Sea, the exercise was “aiming to enhance the integrated combat capability of the aircraft carrier formations” and was “part of the Liaoning aircraft carrier formation’s regular real-combat training in the high seas,” Xinhua said.

Schuster, the former US Navy captain, called the exercise “yet another indicator of the PLA Navy’s growing maritime capabilities.”

“Twin carrier operations add another level of complexity to a fleet’s operations,” he said, with the exercise enabling the fleet to test logistical requirements and coordinate communications among the ships in the flotilla.

The state-run Global Times quoted a Chinese naval expert, Song Zhongping, as saying the exercise enabled the two carriers to “complement each other’s strengths and consolidate their advantages.”

“The Liaoning and the Shandong may have different numbers of aircraft carried, different escorting vessels, and thus distinct capabilities for air defense, anti-submarine warfare, and anti-ship operations,” Song said in the Global Times report.