Prior to US President Joe Biden\u2019s visit to the Middle East last month, Breaking Defense\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0that Israeli officials planned to request American funds \u2014 around $300 million \u2014 be added to the already $3.3 billion Foreign Military Financing that Jerusalem receives from Washington. The new pot of money would be dedicated to laser-based defense development, Israeli defense sources said at the time.<\/p>\n But sources now say that even after Biden was personally given a tour of the Israeli tech, the US has been disinclined to provide the hoped for funding, for now. Haaretz, citing sources involved in the project, reported it was expected the US government would pitch in to the systems\u2019 development in some fashion later on. US lawmakers are\u00a0already publicly pushing<\/a>\u00a0the US to cooperate with Israel on directed energy weapons.<\/p>\n Israel has dramatically accelerated the development of laser-based defense systems in recent years, as Breaking Defense has reported.<\/p>\n The acceleration of the program was spurred by the growing threat posed by Iranian-made armed drones that are sent to the country\u2019s proxy forces in the Gulf and Middle East, as well as the growing arsenal of Iranian-made rockets in the hands of the Hezbollah in Lebanon, defense sources have said.<\/p>\n The Israeli Ministry of Defense\u2019s Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) and Rafael have jointly performed the tests in an Israeli test range in April. According to the Israeli MoD, the \u201cdemonstrator successfully intercepted UAVs, mortars, rockets, and anti-tank missiles in multiple scenarios.\u201d<\/p>\n The ministry added that the tests are the first phase of a multi-year program led by the DDR&D and defense industries. \u201cThe program aims to develop a high-power ground and aerial laser system equipped to deal with long-range, high-intensity threats. The laser will complement the \u2018Iron Dome\u2019 system and will be an effective and economically efficient addition to Israel\u2019s multi-tiered air defense array,\u201d the MoD said in April.<\/p>\n A defense source noted the laser system would be used in tandem with kinetic missile defenses when necessary.<\/p>\n \u201cThe laser is limited by clouds and the beam must stay on the target for a few seconds to kill it,\u201d the source said. \u201cThis reduces its efficiency especially when the rockets are launched in salvos.\u201d<\/p>\n Both the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the US embassy declined to comment for this report.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fie.undef.edu.ar\/ceptm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/220719_biden_iron_beam_GettyImages-1241876027-scaled-e1658241896438-2048x1152-1.webp\")