Rafael Advanced Defense Systems’ chairman, Yuval Steinitz, stated on Sunday that Israel is set to possess partial laser defense capabilities within the coming year.

“One year from now – Israel will be the first country to have partial laser protection. In two years there may be complete protection – against missiles, shells, rockets, or anything else. This will protect us both in the South and in the North,” said Steinitz.

In February of this year, Brigadier General (ret.) Danny Gold, a senior official from the Defense Ministry, indicated that Israel’s air-defense laser technology, once fully operational, would possess the capability to intercept the drones sent by Iran to support Russia in actions against Ukraine, Jerusalem Post reported.

During a presentation at Tel Aviv University’s Artificial Intelligence conference, Gold, who is the director of MAFAT (Directorate of Defense Research & Development), highlighted that his ministry was actively engaged in advancing the utilization of lasers for the next generation of defense systems.