Israel wants to build space attack lasers now

As if its wars on Earth were not enough, Israel now plans to develop offensive laser weapons for use in space.

"No country has the ability to mount attacks in space. We must be the leading country in the world with this capability,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told reporters at a press briefing last week.

“If we achieve this, it will ensure the advantage of deterrence, of the ability to attack, destroy, and all of the other matters, versus our enemies with large resources,” he said, explaining that Israel is investing in both offensive and defensive capabilities in space.

Israel may model its prospective space-based laser weapons off its land-based Iron Beam weapon, which it is now testing together with the Iron Dome missile interception system for the purposes of a more comprehensive Israeli air defense.

Critically, the U.S. supported the development of both systems with more than $1 billion each. Washington also gives Israel $3.8 billion in military aid each year.

Katz’ remarks come as other states pursue space-based weapons systems. Most prominent is the prospective U.S. Golden Dome air defense system, which is loosely based on Israel’s Iron Dome. Conceptually, it would deploy various defense technologies — including space-based missile interceptors — to protect the continental U.S. from air attacks.

American officials and defense contractor executives have repeatedly stressed that space will be a critical domain for the future of war.

"For generations, the battle was fought on land, in the air and subsea,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a speech in February. “But today, the ultimate high ground — the single most decisive battlefield of this century and centuries to come — is hundreds of miles above our heads.”

Governments and militaries are intensely interested in laser-based weapons systems, or directed energy weapons (DEWs), today.The U.S., for example, spends about $1 billion each year on their development. The military intends to deploy the technology on future weapons systems, including the prospective Trump-class battleship.

Militaries pursue laser weapons because they are cheap to deploy — often only costing a few dollars per shot — and can greatly damage or even destroy aerial threats on contact. But if these weapons become widely adopted, their low cost may reduce governments' threshold for conflict, while making the wars they do fight more destructive.