{"id":42842,"date":"2022-02-16T16:50:49","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T16:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/02\/16\/israel-plans-laser-wall-but-questions-remain-about-effectiveness-and-cost\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:39:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:39:16","slug":"israel-plans-laser-wall-but-questions-remain-about-effectiveness-and-cost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/industry\/techwatch\/2022\/02\/16\/israel-plans-laser-wall-but-questions-remain-about-effectiveness-and-cost\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel plans \u2018laser wall,\u2019 but questions remain about effectiveness and cost"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

JERUSALEM \u2014 Israel plans to create a \u201claser wall\u201d that would see the country shift from investing large sums in interceptor missiles to using electric-based lasers that are less costly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The system will be operational by next year, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said earlier this month in announcing the plan. \u201cThis 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<\/a>. That will essentially take away the strongest card our enemies have against us,\u201d he added<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are entering a new age of energy warfare in the air, land and sea,\u201d said Brig. Gen. Yaniv Rotem, then-chief of the ministry\u2019s Directorate of Defense Research and Development. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel has also reportedly turned to the U.S. for cooperation on laser defense<\/a>. In April 2021, the head of Israel\u2019s Missile Defense Organization said<\/a> a ground-based laser would be incorporated into Iron Dome. Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, which makes the Iron Dome air defense system, has also demonstrated the use of lasers against small drones<\/a> as part of its Drone Dome system. Israel\u2019s two laser systems are under development by two of its largest defense companies: Rafael works on the ground-based system, and Elbit Systems leads work on the airborne system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But questions remain as to their effectiveness and eventual deployment: Where will Israel station the weapons? Will they be able to defend the country against rockets fired from the Gaza Strip by Hamas, and threats from the north by the likes of Hezbollah or Iran? And there are budgetary considerations that go along with acquiring them. In addition, while the ground-based system will initially be on the Iron Dome battery, the platform for the airborne system remains to be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is a \u2018laser wall\u2019 viable?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSupporters of laser solutions maintain that it is feasible and Israel can be fully defended with lasers; that there is no need for missile interceptors except on a rainy day and this will cost much less than defense using interceptors,\u201d said Uzi Rubin, the founder and first director of Israel\u2019s Missile Defense Organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rubin, who is now a senior researcher at The Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, told Defense News that while the cost of defeating an incoming threat with a laser may be low, the price of acquiring and maintaining the technology could be significant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
An Israeli police officer demonstrates a new laser defense system \u2014 designed to intercept explosives-laden balloons \u2014 on Aug. 30, 2020. (Tsafrir Abayov\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lasers are also impacted by weather conditions, so any airborne laser system would benefit from being above the clouds. \u201cIt is feasible, but you would need to use UAVs for which you need a lightweight laser. The other option is taking manned aircraft and putting a laser in them, but then you need to maintain a significant number of aircraft in the air all the time. It\u2019s feasible, but the cost would be high,\u201d Rubin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A further challenge is the low rate of kill for this technology, as lasers heat up a target in order to destroy it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[With the] Nautilus laser, it took between 2-3 seconds to kill a Grad-like rocket,\u201d said Rubin, referring to a type of rocket often used by militants in Gaza and Lebanon. \u201cSo consider that they [the enemy] fire at a rate of two to four rockets per second; so you kill one, and several more have been launched already.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The May 2021 war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza illustrated this problem. Hamas increased its rocket fire rate from previous wars, firing up to 125 rockets in salvos over several minutes. \u201cWith Iron Dome, you fire your rockets and you fire two per second \u2014 and each Iron Dome is already locked on target, it is working in parallel. So they fire 20, and [we can] target 20, while a laser has to target each one individually,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rubin said these challenges call into question the feasibility of a laser wall. \u201cThe last point is range. Laser beams have finite range. After a while it disperses and is not concentrated. These days a laser beam disperses by 8-10 kilometers [5-6 miles], so it\u2019s a local defense. That means you need a lot of them. You have to defend a lot of area and put more than one; it won\u2019t kill the salvo,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Rafael, Pini Yungman, the head of the company\u2019s air defense unit, noted the laser technology would not be a stand-alone system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are developing the laser to be a launcher in the Iron Dome system. It means one or two of the launchers of each one of the batteries will be a launcher that comes with lasers,\u201d he told Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A Israeli soldier takes cover as an Iron Dome air defense system launches to intercept a rocket from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, southern Israel, on May 11, 2021. (Ariel Schalit\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He did acknowledge the challenges lasers face when confronted with fog, poor weather conditions, or \u201cany kind of interference in between the launcher and the target.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou cannot rely on it by itself; you need a combination of kinetic kill and energy [lasers], a combination of ways to intercept, otherwise you won\u2019t be able to intercept threats,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price tag<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

However, the executive pointed out that the cost of using a laser might be 10% that of using a missile interceptor. This \u201cmeans by operating in combination in good weather, using laser and interceptors in Iron Dome, you can reduce the overall cost,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, lasers can operate faster than missiles, meaning deploying the systems near a hostile border can result in a shorter interception time because there\u2019s no longer the need to wait for launch and watch the missile fly toward its target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This combination with Iron Dome is not yet operational, but Yungman said the development and integration effort is underway at Rafael, and that in the next few months \u201cwe will have [a] final integration test.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, Rafael is partnered with American firm Raytheon Technologies<\/a> to produce the non-laser version of Iron Dome. Israel has already supplied two batteries of the system to the U.S. military, and one was deployed to Guam<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But unlike the missile interceptors Raytheon makes, where a large quantity is produced to meet demand, a laser system requires making fewer devices, and Israel is locally developing the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said power is not an issue for integrating lasers, as the missile battery will have the options of using its own generator or connecting to a electrical grid. \u201cI believe in 10 years or 15 years, we will have high-power energy lasers that will be able to be carried by UAVs or airplanes,\u201d he added, referring to intercepting larger threats such as theater ballistic missiles and possibly hypersonic weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current plan is to develop and operate the laser with Iron Dome, but Yungman said the company could also incorporate the technology on other air defense systems it makes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, he added, the United States might seek the laser upgrade to its Iron Domes. \u201cIt only depends on the U.S. Army request. If they request, then no one in Israel will say no, especially not me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technological progress<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

In June, Israel\u2019s Directorate of Defense Research and Development said the Defense Ministry, Elbit Systems and the Air Force successfully intercepted several drones<\/a> using an airborne high-power laser weapon system. The system was mounted on a Cessna aircraft, and a photo showed it burning a hole in a midsized drone over the sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The test was the first phase of a multiyear program to develop an airborne laser. Israel said at the time that \u201cthe ability to intercept and destroy airborne threats is groundbreaking and offers a strategic change in the air defense capabilities of the State of Israel.\u201d The government also said the airborne system will complement the country\u2019s multitier missile defense, which includes the Iron Dome, David\u2019s Sling and Arrow missile interceptor systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
An unmanned airborne vehicle is struck by a high-power laser over the Mediterranean Sea. The Israeli military said June 21, 2021, that it had successfully tested an airborne high-power laser that can shoot down drones. (Israeli Defense Ministry Spokesperson\u2019s Office via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Elbit already makes the J-MUSIC direct infrared countermeasures system, which uses a plane-based laser to deflect missile threats. And the airborne laser system that is currently under development will be used on aircraft above the clouds, which should solve some weather-related challenges. Deploying it in the air also provides the chance for the interceptor to follow up with attacking the missile launcher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel\u2019s Defense Ministry would not provide a comment for this story, and based on discussions with several people in the private sector, this topic appears particularly sensitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tal Inbar, a senior research fellow at the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, agrees that air defense systems can\u2019t rely solely on lasers because of the weather factor as well as the thickness of rockets. The thicker the material, the longer it would take for a laser to destroy the threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe answer, regardless of other issues, is to have much more laser systems \u2014 so even the economic excuse for such a system is collapsing. But if it\u2019s a complementary defense system, then there are advantages if weather permits for short-range projectiles like mortars [to be intercepted],\u201d Inbar told Defense News. \u201cSo [the] laser is good, but it will [have to] be another part of a whole missile defense system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rubin, the founder of the Missile Defense Organization, agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLasers will work. It\u2019s not a question of whether it works \u2014 it will be able to kill rockets. My doubts are about the cost effectiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Where will Israel station the weapons? Will they be able to defend the country against rockets? 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