Israel is accelerating the roll-out of laser-based interceptors as part of a plan to surround itself with such technologies and reduce the high costs currently incurred when shooting down aerial threats, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told a conference of the Institute for National Security Studies on Tuesday, adding that the system will first be in an experimental phase and later become operational.
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"Within a year already the IDF will bring into action a laser-based interception system, first experimentally, and later operationally, first in the south, then in other places," he told the INSS conference.
"This will allow us, in the medium to long term, to surround Israel with a laser wall that protects us from missiles, rockets, UAVs and other threats. In fact, it will take away the strongest card the enemy has against us."
Bennett acknowledged that the country's Iron Dome defense system was too expensive.
"The economic equation will be reversed; they [Israel's enemies] will invest a lot and we will invest a little. If it is possible to intercept a missile or rocket with just an electric pulse that costs a few dollars, we will have nullified the ring of fire that Iran has set up on our borders," Bennett said, adding, "This new generation of air defense can also serve our friends in the region."
Bennett said a terrorist in Gaza can fire a rocket toward Israel for a few hundred dollars, but it costs tens of thousands of dollars to intercept it. He spoke from Israel's recent experience: In May, Hamas fired more than 4,000 rockets toward Israel.
"That is an illogical equation," Bennett said. "We decided to break this equation."
Israel unveiled the Iron Dome a decade ago, and the IDF says it has been a great success, with a 90% interception rate against incoming rocket fire during four wars against terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
But in his speech, Bennett said the system is limited by its high price, which is partly underwritten by the United States. Defense officials had originally planned for the laser technology to be ready in about two years.
In January 2020, the Defense Ministry announced it had been developing laser systems for the interception of rockets, artillery, and mortar (RAM) threats, UAVs and anti-tank guided missiles, together with defense companies Rafael Advanced Systems and Elbit Systems.
The ministry described a technological breakthrough in electric-sourced laser beams that created a new level of precision.
"Using the new technology, the defense establishment has succeeded in precisely focusing the beam on long-range targets, including overcoming atmospheric disturbances. This technology enables the development of highly effective operational systems that will serve as an additional layer of defense to secure the State of Israel by air, land and sea," added the ministry.
Three laser programs are currently under development: A ground-based laser to compliment Iron Dome air-defense capabilities, an airborne defense system that can be installed on UAVs, and a mobile ground laser system to defend military personnel during maneuvers.
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Bennett also said in his speech that the "campaign to weaken Iran has begun. This campaign is being waged on all fronts: nuclear, economic, cyber, overt and covert activities, alone and in conjunction with others."
Addressing the possibility of a new nuclear between Iran and world powers, the prime minister said, "The removal of sanctions and flooding this regime with billions of dollars means more rockets, more drones, more terrorist cells, more cyber-attacks and more psychological warfare operations. The Israeli strategy will remain unchanged, whether in the case of a deal, which regardless buys very little time, or in the case of no deal. In both scenarios, our campaign will continue."
He continued: "In the geopolitical arena there are no vacuums; a space that opens up is immediately filled. The place of the United States, heaven forbid, can be filled by the forces of terror and hate, and can be filled by Israel."
