Rafael Advanced Defense Systems’ new family of lasers, which started to be rolled out last week and will continue to be presented to the public by the end of 2025, could eliminate the need for Israelis to run to bomb shelters during most aerial threats, the defense company revealed on Wednesday.
According to Rafael, a major advantage of its lasers – Iron Beam, Iron Beam M, and Lite Beam – is that they can shoot down enemy rockets and drones much earlier in the threat process, such that most of the time, no sirens or bomb shelters would be necessary.
This is because the light energy of the laser travels much faster than any interceptor in Israel’s arsenal and would already potentially destroy the enemy aerial threat shortly after it launches, invariably while it is still in enemy territory.
Only in those rare cases where the laser system missed its target, and likely missed it multiple times – since there should be time for multiple shoot-down attempts – would a siren and running to bomb shelters be necessary.
Rafael’s presentation of the three different laser systems comes as it expects to display the lasers’ capabilities at a defense technology conference in Paris in 10 days, and it is the first time that it has formally mentioned the Iron Beam M – a mobile version of the Iron Beam.
Specific details of various laser models
In addition, Rafael also discussed a variety of specific details regarding these various laser models.
The Lite Beam is the smallest and most local short-range system, which can be placed on individual ground forces vehicles and fires a 10 kW beam. Iron Beam M fires a 250 mm. 50 kW beam and can be mounted on large trucks for mobility but cannot be placed as a minor additional system on individual vehicles.
Finally, the full-size Iron Beam fires a 450 mm. 100 kW beam and is designed to remain stationary for periods of time, though it can, with advance planning, be moved around just as Iron Dome batteries, over time, can be moved around.
Although Raytheon in the US, as well as the UK, Russia, China, Germany, and Japan, are all at various stages of developing laser defense systems, Rafael said it is the only company that has moved beyond test firings to actual use in the field.
Last week, the Defense Ministry revealed that a version of Lite Beam had been used close to 40 times to shoot down Hezbollah drones during the course of the war, and especially in fall 2024.
Questioned about future applications, Rafael sources said it would take a significant amount of time to adapt lasers for use by Israeli aircraft. There are many challenges with using lasers relating to turbulence, dust, clouds, and smoke, which are a partial issue even when the end target is in the sky but are a larger issue when the starting point is also in the sky.
Also, if laser systems firing at enemy aerial threats must consider somewhat additional objects that could get hit by the laser after it continues through the object it hits, those considerations are much more complex for any aircraft firing on ground targets.
For this reason and due to other considerations, the impression was that the IDF has not even made it a priority to achieve such laser aircraft capabilities for the foreseeable future; however, this could all change once the IDF sees more laser defense systems in action at the end of 2025.
It was unclear how quickly Rafael could roll out a larger volume of lasers, something that took years with the Iron Dome, even after the initial defense batteries were produced and deployed.
While laser systems are a big improvement over the Iron Dome for reducing the cost of each shootdown attempt – the Iron Dome costs around $40,000 per interceptor, and each laser shot should cost around $3 – building each laser defense battery is still very expensive.
Another major advantage of laser systems over the Iron Dome, according to Rafael, is that there are far fewer logistics.
Iron Dome interceptors are not just a cost; they are a huge separate logistical operation to move around and store.
In contrast, laser defense systems do not need additional physical storage space for their “interceptor” because it is just made up of light energy created when the system fires.
Rafael chairman Yuval Steinitz said, “Israel is the first country in the world to transform high-power laser technology into a fully operational system – and to execute actual combat interceptions. We are extremely proud of Rafael’s achievement in leading this operational and technological breakthrough. Based on its unique development of adaptive optics, Rafael’s Iron Beam system will undoubtedly be a game-changer with an unprecedented impact on the modern battlefield.”
In addition, Rafael sources said the laser breakthrough was larger than that of the Iron Dome because it is a multidisciplinary scientific human breakthrough with wide applications in many fields. In other words, lasers have been used for some decades for very short-range functions, like eye surgery at a range of a matter of centimeters.
But now that Israel has shown that lasers can be used at a much farther distance, there will be many other military and non-military applications.
Rafael CEO Yoav Tourgeman stated, “Rafael is leading the energy weapon revolution, with operational laser systems among the most advanced of their kind worldwide. The ingenuity and boldness of Rafael’s top scientists and the company’s massive investment in R&D have resulted in a monumental operational and technological accomplishment.
“Later this year, we will deliver the first Iron Beam system from Rafael’s production lines to the [Defense Ministry]. This system will fundamentally change the defense equation by enabling fast, precise, cost-effective interceptions, unmatched by any existing system.”