(JNS) The Israel Defense Forces will launch its first laser interception system “in about a year,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told a conference of the Institute for National Security Studies, adding that the system will first be in an experimental phase and later become operational.

“First in the south and then elsewhere. This will allow us, in the medium to long term, to surround Israel with a laser wall that protects us from missiles, rockets, UAVs and other threats. In fact, it will take away the strongest card the enemy has against us,” he stated.