Amid the new offensive in Gaza City, repeated Russian encroachments into NATO airspace, and China’s relentless drive toward artificial intelligence domination, the American-led order is under intense strain. So Israel’s latest technological breakthrough could not have come at a more opportune time for the United States and its allies. On Wednesday, Israel’s defense ministry announced its “Iron Beam” laser air defense system has completed testing and will be operational by the end of this year. Israel is on the cusp of solving one of the thorniest dilemmas in modern warfare. It is also showing how rapidly military technology is changing, and why it is vital that the Trump administration’s defense reforms succeed. Iron Beam can destroy incoming rockets, mortars, drones, and manned aircraft, and it has already proved its worth in the campaigns against Hezbollah and Iran. Israel plans for it to complement Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow, which use missiles to destroy threats to the Israeli homeland. In 5 to 10 years, Rafael chairman Yuval Steinitz predicts, “nothing hostile will fly in the air—no aircraft, no drones, no cruise missiles, no shells, no bombs—because the laser will completely clear the air of anything detected, anything seen.”
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