Innovation in Defense Tech Often Comes from Small Countries with Everything to Lose.
Sometimes in war, the truth is best conveyed in a joke. I follow a spoof account on X that pretends to speak for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. It pokes fun at conspiracy theorists who see Israeli spies behind every curtain, but also shows pride in the small nation’s military and intelligence prowess. Several days into the war, the account noted that France last year moved to bar Israeli companies from showing their wares at a military exhibition in Paris. Therefore, it added, “we welcome everyone to view our product demonstration in Tehran.”
The war against Iran’s leadership is a demonstration of the U.S. military’s unmatched firepower, logistics and tactical coordination. China and Russia are surely watching. But it also reveals how small nations with fewer resources can drive military innovation as well, sometimes surpassing the superpowers. As the faux Mossad poster notes, Israel has more than pulled its weight in the conflict so far. The tiny nation is employing a variety of homegrown weapons systems, including AI-assisted tools for precise targeting and a suite of missile- and drone-defense technologies.
Continue reading the entire piece here at the Wall Street Journal (paywall)
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James B. Meigs is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a City Journal contributing editor.
Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images
