It would also be much faster than their current interceptors.
I just wonder how well it would work against low-tech targets.
Israel is pursuing its own high-energy laser defense program, Iron Beam (yes, not so creative). From public sources, it's not clear if the thing is 1-2 years from deployment, or if it's in development hell; the US is uniquely public about these high-budget prestige projects for internal political reasons.
Clearly should have been called God Ray or Finger of God.
Naming your weapons after religious artifacts reminds of Monty Python's holy hand grenade. Probably not a great idea to connect your religion to something that explodes and kills people.
Merkava is their main battle tank.
I don't know if there's prestige in being 7 years late to the party.
Rheinmetall demonstrated this tech in 2012.
Rheinmetall didn't demonstrate what you're implying. You're conflating two entirely different systems.
The US has so many laser programs that predate the Rheinmetall example, it's hard to decide where to start. HELLADS, AN/SEQ-3, Boeing YAL-1, HEL-MD, THEL, MLD, etc.
Like this one:
"On March 18, 2009 Northrop Grumman announced that its engineers in Redondo Beach had successfully built and tested an electric laser capable of producing a 100-kilowatt ray of light, powerful enough to destroy cruise missiles, artillery, rockets and mortar rounds."
Or:
Precursor to the Boeing YAL-1: "The Airborne Laser Laboratory was a less-powerful prototype installed in a Boeing NKC-135A. It shot down several missiles in tests conducted in the 1980s"
THEL:
"The Tactical High-Energy Laser, or THEL, was a laser developed for military use, also known as the Nautilus laser system. The mobile version is the Mobile Tactical High-Energy Laser, or MTHEL. In 1996, the United States and Israel entered into an agreement to produce a cooperative THEL called the Demonstrator, which would utilize deuterium fluoride chemical laser technologies. In 2000 and 2001 THEL shot down 28 Katyusha artillery rockets and five artillery shells. On November 4, 2002, THEL shot down an incoming artillery shell. The prototype weapon was roughly the size of six city buses, made up of modules that held a command center, radar and a telescope for tracking targets, the chemical laser itself, fuel and reagent tanks, and a rotating mirror to reflect its beam toward speeding targets. It was discontinued in 2005"
So to intercept 20 missiles you'll need 20 expensive "turrets", your enemy knows how many "turrets" you have and can easily flood it with more cheap missiles.
Also remember that target destruction is not instantaneous, this limits the amount of targets per "turret" and the minimum range.
That was Soviet Frontal Aviation's strategy for dealing with carrier battle groups as far back as the 60s. It's certainly in the DOD's considerations, and it isn't as easy as it sounds. For starters, you need to let the firing platform get within range to being with.