August 2, 2026: Ukraine is developing a laser weapon for destroying Russian Shaheeds and other attack drones. Ukraine has not revealed much about its new system, but it is known to be developing advanced versions of its Drone Dome. This system uses a high-powered laser that can destroy or disable most drones at distances of 2,000 meters or more. Drone Dome uses a radar system that can detect most small drones at ranges up to 30 kilometers and altitudes from 10 meters to 10,000 meters.

Drone Dome is not a radical development but part of a trend. Since 2010, Israeli firms have developed a growing number of AUD/Anti-Drone Defense systems largely because Israel is a nation that is most often threatened by hostile use of drones, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, particularly small commercial ones increasingly used by Islamic terrorists and criminal gangs.

Iron Dome entered service in 2005 and continues to be the main defense against rocket and mortar attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. The manufacturer developed a version (Iron Beam) that used a laser, but because the laser was only effective out to about 2,000 meters, it was not useful against longer-range rockets and was actually more expensive than Iron Dome because the Tamir missile can knock down rockets fired from over 50 kilometers away and thus one Iron Dome battery can cover a much larger area than the Iron Beam system.

Since the beginning of the Ukraine War, Israel has been reluctant to supply Ukraine with weapons technology. The Israelis did not want to offend Russia. But now Russia is in terrible shape economically and losing its war with Ukraine. With not much of Russia left to offend, the Israelis could openly or covertly assist Ukraine in developing a more effective laser-based air defense system. Ukraine has already offered to sell Israeli drones and share drone technology with them.