Israel will not have its pioneering Iron Beam high-energy laser weapon system up and running ahead of schedule, despite the looming possibility of full-scale war breaking out across its northern border with Lebanon-based Hezbollah.
Israel’s Defense Ministry and industries are doing all they can to speed up the deployment of the Iron Beam, but the tail end of 2025 is still the earliest the first-of-its-kind air defense system will be fielded, Newsweek understands. This timeline has long been in place.
Gideon Weiss, the head of international marketing and business development for Israel’s state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, said there had been no changes to the timeline since October, with the Iron Beam still expected to be operational from the end of next year.
Israel, now nearly nine months into all-out war in Gaza following Palestinian militant group Hamas‘ unprecedented attacks on Israel on October 7, is also contending with Hezbollah pressing from southern Lebanon into Israel’s northern towns and villages. The Tehran-backed group has said it is firing drones, rockets and missiles into northern Israel in solidarity with Hamas after Israel vowed to eradicate the group from the Gaza Strip.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations has promised an “obliterating war,” should any Israeli operation into Lebanon get underway.
Israel Ministry of Defense
Israeli officials say that its forces are wrapping up operations in Gaza, with attention increasingly turning toward the Lebanese border. Provisional plans for a full-scale Israeli ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon have already received the green light, according to Israel’s military.
But U.S. officials told CNN that Washington had deep concerns that Israel’s air defenses in the north could be overwhelmed by Hezbollah, should full-blown war rage across Israel’s northern border.
Additional air defense assets, able to take out Hezbollah’s drones or mortars, could provide Israel with an extra blanket of protection, should its current patchwork of air-defense system types become overwhelmed.
Israel’s Defense Ministry told Newsweek that the government, along with Israeli industries, was making its “best effort to accelerate any relevant solution to the current conflict, tailored to combat demands and battlefield conditions.”
“The Iron Beam system is being developed on a rapid timeline that depends on testing and development phases, with utmost efforts to advance it as swiftly and effectively as possible to provide operational solutions for forces in the field,” a spokesperson said.
The Iron Beam uses laser technology to slice through airborne targets, such as drones. It can intercept threats from up to several miles away, according to Rafael, the prime contractor for the system.
The Iron Beam is designed to slot into the air defense umbrella, rather than replace existing systems. These include Israel’s famous Iron Dome, the long-range David’s Sling system and Arrow 3, which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said successfully intercepted an incoming target for the first time in November.
The systems have different ranges, intended to bat away a variety of threats from short-range Hamas-fired rockets to long-range Iranian ballistic missiles.
“Generally, Israel’s multilayered air defense system is a significant national asset and plays a crucial role against any threat, including those in the north,” the defense ministry spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for Rafael told Newsweek that more than 2,000 of its employees were called up for emergency reserve duty after Hamas’ October 7 attacks, with hundreds of personnel evacuated from their homes.
“In its duty to provide the defense capabilities required for the IDF to uphold its mission, Rafael has accelerated the production and manufacturing of critical assets,” the spokesperson said.
“Systems like the Iron Beam that are under development will be deployed when it can meet the operational need as effectively as possible,” they added. It will work alongside the Tamir kinetic interceptor missiles used by the Iron Dome to provide an additional “energy-based intercepting capability.”
“In regards to the arena it could be used, whether it be north or south, the system is designed to counter an array of threats that target the Israeli homefront,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Israel said tests have shown the Iron Beam can intercept rockets, mortars and anti-tank missiles, as well as uncrewed vehicles—a threat militaries across the world are increasingly working to combat.
Then-Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, described it as a “game-changer” back in 2022, adding: “It may sound like science fiction, but it’s real.”
Similar systems are in various stages of development in other countries, including the U.K., which successfully tested its DragonFire laser earlier this year. Reports in late 2023 claimed the Iron Beam had been deployed to intercept rockets fired from Gaza, but an Israeli defense official told Newsweek these reports were false.
“There could be substantial benefits to Israel if it can get this right,” said James Black, assistant director of the Defence and Security research group at the RAND Europe think tank.
Not only would the Iron Beam beef up Israel’s defenses, it would show how effective directed energy weapons can be, he told Newsweek. This would then position Israel as an “early adopter of this new capability, and thus also as a potential exporter to other militaries seeking similar systems.”
The U.S. has dedicated $1.2 billion to the development of the Iron Beam, while Washington looks at its own laser projects. The U.S. Army has floated the idea of acquiring the Iron Beam, if it proves successful.
Israel’s Bennett has previously said that each intercept carried out by the system will cost around $3.50, excluding the other costs racked up to get it operational. Some interceptor missiles in air defense systems can cost several million dollars apiece, making a cheaper alternative to batting away cheap drones or inexpensively made rockets an appealing prospect. The number of intercepts is also not limited by the number of available missiles.
However, laser-based systems are limited by weather conditions and by the need to have a line of sight to a target.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.