COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, WORLD NEWS: Israel is hoping a new anti-missile laser system will help defend it against rocket attacks by Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon. The system was tested successfully in the United States. CNN's Jamie McIntyre reports.</s>JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the first time ever, a laser weapon has destroyed a rocket armed with a live warhead in flight.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 3, 2, 1...</s>MCINTYRE: In Tuesday's test, a Katyusha rocket was fired from New Mexico's White Sands missile range. Seconds later, a powerful chemical laser, several miles down range, successfully tracked and destroyed the rocket with an invisible beam. While it's a joint U.S.-Israeli project, the tactical high-energy laser, or "THEL," was specifically developed for Israel to defend against one of its biggest security headaches: Katyusha rocket attacks from Hezbollah guerrillas, which continued in the weeks before Israel's sudden troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon last month.</s>KEN BACON, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: Israel has made it very clear that it will protect its people along its northern border. And as I said, the United States has worked with Israel in the past to meet its security needs, and we'll continue to meet with Israel in the future.</s>MCINTYRE: Israel had hoped to have the anti-Katyusha laser fully deployed before giving up its buffer zone in Lebanon, but the $190 million project is slightly behind schedule and overbudget. It could be deployed as soon as early next year, if further testing shows the laser can destroy multiple rockets at once. (on camera): Despite the fact the United States has picked up part of the tab, and has nothing like the rocket-killing laser in its arsenal, it has no plans to field the revolutionary system. With no threat from its neighbors, the United States wants a system that's more mobile and has more capability to defeat a wider range of missiles. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
Israel Looks to Defend Itself Against Katyusha Rocket Attacks 