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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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so china wants to shoot itself by defending uae and its oliy rats?
and china sold saudi arabia some ballistic missiles years ago too.
i am confused. those chinese are so intriguing. i wonder what kind of game they are playing.
perhaps backgammon,chess or senet or yan ken po.
paraphrasing what escobar wrote over a decade ago: us plays black adder, china plays monopoly.
china is all about business, not a real superpower, carthage rather.
chinese civilization does seek prosperity and honor.
the chinese population has little or no aspirations to rule the earth and would prefer to survive with honor
tanks and armoured vehicles were once thought to be effective protection. if these weapons do become effective, as yet noone really knows, then they will be destroyed by the very things it was sent to hunt. quite soon we may find that the brics keeps their tech to themselves and their trusted friends.
i find it highly unlikely the china supplied a laser weapon to the uae because it most likely will be studied by the americans and the izzies. thus, it is not in china’s interest to send its advanced weapons to a country where its technology can be studied.
or a dumbed down version of it was sent. perhaps with backdoors too?
as long as other nations accept us economic domination and use american currency in trade the usa will have disproportionate power
multi vector policy seems to mean you have no allies and everyone sells each other out for economic interests.
no wonder trump struts around like the emperor of the world.
curious development, if true. a good story.
thanks a lot china.arm the clear enemies of iran, while we only hear rumors of chinese weapons in iran, usually false rumors.
iran already shot down a chinese made drown owned by the uae some time ago. china also sold saudi arabia ballistic missiles a few years ago too.