Oct 30, 2024 - World

Israel wants to deploy its Iron Beam within a year

Colin Demarest

Israeli and American officials stand in front of Iron Beam, a laser weapon. Blue flags flank the crowd. — The Iron Beam laser weapon, seen behind U.S. President Joe Biden. Photo: Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images

Israel is spending more than $500 million to ramp up production of Iron Beam, a futuristic laser meant to shield the country from mortars, rockets and drones.

Why it matters: The funds vouch for directed-energy weapons, which are not yet widely adopted and polarize defense-tech watchers.

The push underscores the severity of overhead threats Israel faces. More protections are needed to thwart more salvos from more aggressors.

Iron Beam should be ready within a year, according to Eyal Zamir, the director general of Israel's defense ministry.

Its realization, he added in a statement, "heralds the beginning of a new era in warfare."

Zoom in: Rafael Advanced Defense Systems leads development of Iron Beam. The company is also involved with the vaunted Iron Dome and David's Sling countermeasures.

Chief executive Yoav Tourgeman said Iron Beam will greatly enhance Israel's air defenses, which have been strained by Iran and its proxies.

Flashback: Iron Beam was the subject of much misinformation following the 2023 Hamas raids.

Videos purporting to show the high-energy laser in action — destroying a barrage of incoming missiles — were actually manipulated clips from a photorealistic video game, Arma 3.

The bottom line: Militaries around the world are wrangling with directed energy. Israel could be its proving ground.

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Israel wants to deploy its Iron Beam within a year

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