... My favourite defense technology is the
Skyguard laser defense battery, based on the joint US-Israeli THEL project.
Here's an official demo video from 2006, released shortly after the last Lebanon-Israeli war concluded. Last I heard, in official government tests it shot down every single mortar, shell and rocket that came within a few miles, and was able to do so even when multiple attacks were launched simultaneously. The excuse for not using it relates to the high cost of building and deploying a unit, but supposedly it only costs $1000 for each interception once deployed, far less than the cost of a Katyusha. Unlike the Iron Dome system, the cost of Skyguard's "ammo" is not a limiting factor in the number of interceptions that could actually be conducted, and if you couple it with Iron Dome's ability to ignore projectiles headed towards unpopulated areas, this seems like it could be a real gamechanger.
Any idea why it's not even on the radar screen anymore? Laser technology is only getting better and yet it seems neither the US nor Israel will show any interest towards it for many years to come.