Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced Tuesday that Israel will deploy a “laser wall” to destroy incoming missiles within a year, a major leap in military technology that even the United States hasn’t achieved, the Jerusalem Post reports.
Israel currently uses the Iron Dome defense system, a network of rocket batteries that fire anti-missile missiles into the air to damage and destroy short-range rockets and artillery coming into the country. It is estimated that firing an Iron Dome missile costs about $100,000 each, a cost that would be significantly reduced by using laser technology.
“This will allow us, in the medium- to long-term, to surround Israel with a laser wall that will defend us from missiles, rockets, UAVs and other threats that will essentially take away the strongest card our enemies have against us,” Bennett said.
Israel tested the basics of the system in 2021, when it launched a small plane with a laser on it. During June, the system destroyed 100% of the missiles it targeted from a distance of one kilometer. The new system would provide a 100 kilowatt laser that would destroy targets up to 20 kilometers away.