Directed energy is moving from the edge of the defense conversation to the center of the energy one. The same family of technologies that fires a laser or microwave interceptor can, in a different configuration, beam solar power from orbit to a grid on Earth. That dual-use character is the strategic point.
As the United States and its allies organize trusted supply chains for the AI age, directed energy is becoming the layer that both secures the battlefield and could one day power the economy. This report places Israel inside that shift. Israel’s role is not to build orbital systems but to supply the underlying lasers, microwaves, optics and beam control that allied programs depend on.
The strategic argument, in three parts
- The race is already underway. The U.S., China, Japan and the EU are each developing space-based solar power, and the directed-energy weapons market is growing at roughly 17.6% a year. The question is not whether the domain matters, but who leads it.
- Israel’s contribution is as an enabler, not a principal. Its edge is in the underlying technology rather than orbital systems, and that technology can make allied programs more capable.
- The work is operationalization. The window to embed Israeli capability in allied programs is open now and will narrow as flagship efforts move from demonstration toward deployment.