“Within 3 to 5 years, we will be able to develop a laser that can also intercept ballistic missiles from Iran,” Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Chairman Yuval Steinitz told me on last week’s Meet the Press.
It sounds like science fiction, but so did the last weapon his company managed to produce: the Iron Beam laser defense.
According to the Finance Ministry, Operation Roaring Lion cost the country approximately NIS 35 billion (roughly $11.5 billion)—comprising NIS 22 billion in direct defense expenditures and NIS 13 billion in lost economic output.
A “titanium” beam capable of shooting down ballistic missiles would slash the $3 million price tag of a traditional interception down to just a few dollars.