‘Iron Beam’: Israel’s New Laser Air Defence System ‘Will Bankrupt Enemies’, Bennett Says

The Israeli-made laser system, known as the “Iron Beam”, was unveiled in 2014 and is designed to complement a series of the Jewish state’s air defences, including the more costly rocket-intercepting Iron Dome.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has stated that the effectiveness of the country’s new laser missile defence system is not restricted to intercepting incoming enemy rockets, adding that the system is “ground breaking not only for Israel but for the entire world”.

“The [‘Iron Beam’] system knows how to down mortar shells, unmanned vehicles and rockets. It is ground breaking not only because we can hit the enemy with military means but we can also financially bankrupt them”, Bennett argued.

He explained that until now, Israel’s Iron Dome missiles cost tens of thousands of dollars each to intercept a single incoming enemy projectile.

With the emergence of the laser system at the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), though, “the enemy will invest tens of thousands of dollars and we will invest just two dollars of electricity”, the prime minister asserted.

The remarks followed senior Israeli officials saying in mid-April that in recent tests, the laser system had successfully intercepted mortars, rockets, and anti-tank missiles.

“This may sound like science fiction, but it’s real. ‘The Iron Beam’’s interceptions are silent, they’re invisible and they only cost around $3.50 (10 shekels) [apiece],” Bennett claimed at the time.

In his turn, Brigadier General Yaniv Rotem of the Israeli Defence Ministry's Directorate of Defence Research and Development, reportedly said that “the Iron Beam” is “a game-changer thanks to its easily operated system and significant economic advantages”.

He added that Tel Aviv plans “to station multiple laser transmitters along Israel’s borders throughout the next decade”.

Before Israel, US ships were the only vehicles in the world that had deployed such a laser-based military system, but it has proved effective only against relatively easy targets, such as rubber dinghies, and at short ranges.

Russia has meanwhile, tested a combat laser, which is capable of burning drones at a distance of five kilometres (3.1 miles) in five seconds, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said last week.