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Israel, U.S. to Fund Laser that Shoots Down Rockets
(AP/Jerusalem Post) - Israel and the U.S. are to spend at least $57 million for development of a laser cannon that can shoot down short-range missiles, MK Yuval Steinitz and security officials said Tuesday. The Nautilus uses a high power radar to track and lock onto the incoming projectile. Then a Mid-Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser (MIRACL), which looks like a large spotlight, shoots out an intense beam that destroys the rocket. A successful test in February 1996 in the U.S. marked the first time that a rocket has been destroyed in flight by a laser beam. The laser has also proved its ability to shoot down artillery shells.