Defense Minister Yoav Gallant instructed the head of the Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Research and Development (DDR&D, or MAFAT in Hebrew), Danny Gold, in a private conversation to develop a type of weapon that no one knows about and that has no equivalent in the world.
The defense minister asked that the weapon be designed to fight effectively against terrorist organizations according to combat scenarios in ongoing fighting in the Gaza Strip in which terrorists succeed in hiding under cover of buildings and underground infrastructure over large areas.
Gallant’s directive comes against the backdrop of American threats to stop arms shipments and Iran’s historic attack on Israel by launching hundreds of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.
MAFAT informed the defense minister that the development of the laser system in the air and on land is progressing beyond expectations. It should be noted that no laser firing test has been conducted.
Laser system to be operational in coming years
It is estimated that the system will develop over the next two years to begin intercepting aircraft, rockets, and mortar shells and will serve as a complementary system to the Iron Dome.
The development of the Arrow 4 system is also advancing according to expectations in collaboration with defense industries, and it is already generating significant interest in the United States and other countries.
This is amid the Arrow system’s recent success against threats fired from Iran, Iraq, and Yemen.
Gallant also approved a special budget for MAFAT to accelerate the development of highly advanced chips that will improve the computing capabilities of various Israeli ordnance and enhance battlefield performance.
Security officials emphasize that the IDF must grow and be capable of shouldering the cost of combat in the Gaza Strip, the northern border, and other arenas.
Accordingly, the officials claim that the defense budget must grow quickly and that delays in this, including in budgets already decided upon by the government, have already become a political dispute between the defense ministry and the Treasury and have harmed national security.
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