Israel's Iron Beam: The £415 million laser shield revolution
Iron Beam, a laser air defence system, may enter service next year to protect the airspace over Israel. The country's Ministry of Defence has recently signed contracts with Elbit Systems and Rafael for the delivery and production of the system, with a total value of £415 million. Iron Beam, utilising a 100 kW laser beam, will enable the destruction of a wide range of targets. Remarkably, a single shot of such a laser is expected to cost only £2.70.
Under a £165 million contract, Elbit Systems is committed to delivering laser equipment for the Iron Beam system and managing its maintenance. Meanwhile, Israeli company Rafael, which signed a £250 million contract with Israel's Ministry of Defence, will be the final executor of this weapon. The signing of these contracts is expected to significantly accelerate the production speed of the first series of laser systems.
Iron Beam - a laser weapon the world will envy Israel for
As The Times of Israel reported, Eyal Zamir, Director General of Israel’s Ministry of Defence, stated that the first ground-based laser systems should enter operation within a year. He noted: "This marks the beginning of a new era in warfare – the era of the laser." This solution is intended to enhance the capabilities of the renowned Iron Dome, Israel's short-range defence system. Together with its maritime counterpart, C-Dome, they form the lowest layer of Israel's missile defence shield.
The system was first introduced during the Singapore Airshow in February 2014. Over the following years, Israelis worked intensively on its development. In March 2022, Iron Beam underwent tests conducted by the Israel Defence Forces, which confirmed its effectiveness in combating drones, mortars, and projectiles. The following year, as the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict increased and Hamas attacks intensified, Israel further focused on speeding up the deployment of this weapon.
Effective anti-drone system
The role of Iron Beam will include intercepting artillery shells, mortar rounds, and drones within a range of several hundred metres up to 6.4 kilometres. This will be made possible by a 100 kW laser beam directed at the target. According to its producers, it takes approximately four seconds to eliminate a hostile object that appears in Israeli airspace. Notably, Iron Beam can be programmed to track low-flying targets, which pose an increasingly significant challenge on the modern battlefield, as shown by the growing role of drones during the war in Ukraine.
Significantly, using the laser air defence system is expected to be considerably cheaper than traditional solutions. In 2022, then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett mentioned in a post on the Twitter platform (now X) that a single laser shot would cost about £2.70. Defence News highlights that the cost is minimal as it primarily represents the electricity used to fire the laser. For comparison, the cost of a Tamir interceptor missile, used by the Iron Dome air defence system, is approximately £33,000–£41,000.
