Israel says Iron Dome too pricey, plans ‘laser wall’ for defence
- PM Naftali Bennett says the next-generation system will be unveiled within a year in hope of neutralising the ‘ring of fire’ set up by Iran
- Although the Iron Dome has a high interception rate, it costs a few hundred dollars to fire a rocket at Israel, but tens of thousands of dollars to intercept it
Israel’s prime minister on Tuesday acknowledged that its Iron Dome defence system is too expensive and the country is speeding the roll-out of laser technology to help protect it from rocket attacks.
Naftali Bennett told a security conference that the new generation of technology – a “laser wall” – will be unveiled within a year in southern Israel.
Little is known about the system’s effectiveness, but the system eventually is expected to be deployed on land, in the air and at sea and send a deterrent message to arch-enemy Iran and its proxies.
“If we can intercept a missile or rocket with an electrical pulse that costs a few dollars, we will essentially neutralise the ring of fire that Iran has set up,” Bennett told the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University. “This new generation of air defence can also serve our friends in the region.”
Israel unveiled the Iron Dome a decade ago, and the military says it has been a great success, with a 90 per cent interception rate against incoming rocket fire during four wars against militants in the Gaza Strip.