Israel plans ‘laser wall,’ but questions remain about effectiveness and cost – By Seth J. Frantzman (Defense News) / February 16, 2022
JERUSALEM — Israel plans to create a “laser wall” that would see the country shift from investing large sums in interceptor missiles to using electric-based lasers that are less costly.
The system will be operational by next year, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said earlier this month in announcing the plan. “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,” he added.
Israel has been working on laser air defense technology for decades, going back to the Tactical High Energy Laser system (also known as Nautilus), developed in the 1990s and early 2000s, although that project was canceled. But in January 2020, the Defense Ministry announced a breakthrough.
“We are entering a new age of energy warfare in the air, land and sea,” said Brig. Gen. Yaniv Rotem, then-chief of the ministry’s Directorate of Defense Research and Development. “The research and development investments made in the last years have placed the state of Israel among the leading countries in the field of high-energy laser systems.”
