TEL AVIV — Israel has concluded that a U.S. laser system would not serve as an interim defense solution for the frequent rocket and missile attacks it has sustained, Middle East Newsline reported.

The Defense Ministry has concluded that Skyguard, a laser-based system developed by Northrop Grumman, could not guarantee defense against short-range missiles and rockets fired either from Lebanon or the Gaza Strip, officials said.

Ministry representatives attended live-fire tests in which Skyguard failed to intercept most incoming missiles.

"We had thought Skyguard could represent an interim or back-up solution to [the Israeli-origin rocket defense system] Iron Dome," a ministry source said. "Right now, we don't see this as an alternative in the short term."

Skyguard was touted as an advanced version of the Israeli-U.S. Tactical High-Energy Laser, or THEL. Over the last 18 months, Northrop Grumman sent at least two delegations to brief the ministry and military on the capabilities of Skyguard. The company said Skyguard could intercept missiles fired from several directions and contained a footprint of eight-square kilometers.

In mid-March, Defense Ministry director-general Pinchas Buhris discussed Skyguard and attended live-fire tests at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. But in a test on March 17, Skyguard intercepted eight out of 36 missiles meant to simulate the Hamas-origin Kassam-class, short-range missile.

Officials said Northrop Grumman, which scheduled the test in December 2007, had assured the Israeli delegation that Skyguard could intercept at least 21 missiles. They said the company had insisted that the system was enhanced in 2007 and could be ready for operations within four months.

The Defense Ministry plans to recommend that Israel continue to develop Iron Dome. Iron Dome, the prime contractor of which was the state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, was scheduled to become operational in 2010.

On Monday, the Israeli military said Iron Dome would be contain only one-third of its capability during initial deployment in 2010. Officials said this meant that the system would have one-third of its planned footprint. The military, in a notification to the Knesset State Audit Committee, did not elaborate, and none of the Defense Ministry officials summoned to the parliamentary panel attended.

"I see this as an expression of the dismissal of the Israeli defense brass has toward the residents of Sderot [the leading victims of Palestinian missile strikes from the Gaza Strip]," Knesset State Audit Committee chairman Zevulun Orlev said.

---