Israeli Iron Beam Laser Defense to be Deployed Earlier Than Expected

The missiles, rockets and drones launched at Israel by Hamas, Hezbollah, the pro-Iranian militias in Syria and the Houthis in Yemen have been intercepted by a series of different defense systems that communicate with each other, coordinate and distribute interception missions in real time.

The future of the systems, which will be based in part on the lessons of the current war, will include a significant expansion to this array, with at least three new interception systems in the development stages.

The most intriguing and groundbreaking of them all is Rafael’s “Iron Beam” which is designed to intercept rockets, anti-tank missiles, drones and mortars using a powerful laser.

More than a hundred engineers from Rafael’s Research, Development and Engineering division are working on accelerating the development of Iron Beam.

After many years of trial and error, in recent years Rafael’s development team recorded a series of technological achievements that led at the beginning of the year to the deployment of Iron Beam in an experimental area in the Negev to test its capabilities in real world conditions.

The results of the experiment were satisfactory, with Iron Beam successfully dealing with barrages of rockets, mortar bombs and also with an unmanned aircraft that fell to the ground after the laser beam “cooked” one of its wings and turned it from a potential threat into a piece of junk that dove into the desert soil from a high altitude.

At the heart of the system is an electric laser aimer that focuses on a defined target and fires a beam with a power of about 100 kilowatts and a diameter of a coin.

The laser beam is hidden from view, both during the day and at night, and can only be seen through devices that are intended for this.

With the beginning of the war in Gaza, during which more than 10,000 rockets and missiles have been launched towards the Israeli home front, Rafael and the Ministry of Defense decided to use this as an opportunity to test Iron Beam’s systems under real field conditions in the hope that the results of this operational test may significantly shorten its development process.

The security establishment has remained silent regarding the planned experiment.

Iron Beam is intended for first operational deployment during 2025, but it is possible that it will be deployed in the field much earlier, as Rafael is accelerating its development and trying to bring it to initial operation as early as next year.

At least in the first phase, it will be a complementary component that will be added to the Iron Dome system, and the decision whether to launch an interceptor missile that costs about $50,000 or a laser beam that costs a few shekels at a rocket or mortar will be based on conditions in the field.

On days with clouds, fog and sandstorms it will be difficult to trust Iron Beam, whose activity is limited in such situations, and interception will be led by Iron Dome.

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