Straight out of sci-fi: What is Iron Beam, Israel’s new air defence system?

“It may sound like science fiction, but it’s real,” said Israel prime minister Naftali Bennett as the country tested a new missile defence system. It can intercept mortars, rockets, anti-tank missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and destroy them – all reduced to rubble with a laser beam. Sounds straight out of Star Wars, isn’t it?

The new laser missile system is called Iron Beam and it’s touted as a “game-changer” for Israel’s air defence. Bennett describes it as “the world’s first energy-based weapons system that uses a laser to shoot down incoming UAVs, rockets & mortars at a cost of $3.50 per shot”.

A protective umbrella

The Israel-made laser system will be operational as soon as possible, defence minister Benny Gantz said. The goal is to deploy Iron Beam around the country’s borders over the next decade.

Gantz said that the laser system would be part of “an efficient, inexpensive and innovative protection umbrella”.

Iron Beam will be integrated into Israel’s multi-pronged air defences, acting as a force multiplier to enhance their efficacy. It is designed to complement the expensive and much-talked-about Iron Dome, which uses missiles to intercept incoming rockets.

Israel has been testing the laser-based defence system for several years, shooting down a drone with it last year. The plan was to initially deploy the system by 2024 but the military pushed for inducting it into service earlier. This was driven by concerns that in a future conflict, the military would not have sufficient interceptor missiles for the Iron Dome and other air defence systems to shoot down incoming rockets, missiles, and drones, reports The Times of Israel.

In March 2022, Gantz approved funding for the project that runs into millions of shekels.

Complementing the Iron Dome

The ground-based laser system is not a replacement for Iron Dome or other air defence systems. It’s expected to supplement them to shoot down smaller projectiles.

The Iron Dome system has had a 90 per cent success rate against incoming rocket fire but is expensive to deploy. Bennett has said that someone in Gaza can fire a rocket toward Israel for a few hundred dollars but it costs tens of thousands of dollars for the Iron Dome to intercept it, reports The Associated Press.

The Iron Beam aims to change that. The system is said to be effective, accurate and easy to operate. “The system is all-electric and more economical,” Benett said.

Israel is among the first countries in the world to succeed in using powerful laser technology to develop a working air defence system, its defence ministry said.

The downside

The Iron Beam is extremely powerful and there is no risk of running out of ammunition as long as there’s a constant source of energy.

The downside of a laser system is that it does not function well in times of low visibility, including heavy cloud cover or other inclement weather. For that reason, the ministry intends to also mount the system on an aeroplane which would help get around this limitation by putting the system above the clouds, though that is still a few more years off, ministry officials told The Times of Israel.

Long time in the making

Though Iron Beam is an Israeli military project, the country’s defence ministry conducted research and development with Rafael and Elbit Systems, two of Israel’s defence industry heavyweights.

Rafael has been working on a laser-based defence prototype since 2009. In 2014, the company showcased an early version of the Iron Beam at the Singapore Air Show, according to media reports. Israel planned to deploy it in 2015 to blow up short-range rockets and mortar bombs.

Now, finally, the Iron Beam is ready to become part of Israel’s robust military.

With inputs from agencies

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