In March, the Israeli Defense Ministry successfully tested its new laser-based defense system—dubbed “Iron Beam”—against rockets, mortars, drones, and anti-tank missiles, showing its viability in real-world situations. Dore Gold explains the significance of this breakthrough:
The U.S. and Israel worked together on the Nautilus laser in 1996. They tested the system at the White Sands testing range in New Mexico. True, it downed everything that was thrown at it, from mortar shells to actual rockets. But it was cumbersome and its technology was not yet ready to make the strategic difference that Israel sought. Nonetheless, the lower cost of laser defense is part of the new advantage that it could provide to Israel.
With Iron Dome, for example, each Tamir interceptor shot can cost $80,000. . . . Today, when the latest-generation laser defense is used, then the military calculus of Israel can change radically. The cost of each laser shot drops down significantly to less than $5.00, according to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
There is another factor that needs to be taken into account. The strategic background of the last effort to develop laser defenses was the cold war. The West recognized that the Warsaw Pact was examining how to deny NATO the ability to reinforce its armies by using ballistic missiles against them. Today, the strategic context has changed. Rockets and ballistic missiles are being employed by Iranian proxy forces like Hizballah, Hamas, and especially the Houthis in Yemen.
The Houthis have also successfully fired armed drones at the heart of Riyadh and at Abu Dhabi. Unquestionably, Bahrain and Kuwait are next in line having faced active insurgencies in the last few years. There is a collective interest among Israel and the Gulf states to deny Iranian allies the ability to hit their most sensitive infrastructures. The Abraham Accords have created new regional possibilities for marrying Israeli technology with the financial power of the Arab Gulf states. This is the real game-changer that is emerging now.
Read more on Jerusalem Post: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-704727