The Iron Beam costs a mere $2 per interception, meaning it is cheaper than the Iron Dome.
Israel’s Iron Beam missile shield was displayed at the DSEI 2025 defense show in London earlier this month. The unprecedented defensive technology has been used recently in the ongoing Gaza War, making its public appearance at the exhibition even more significant. The Iron Beam and its components, including the Naval Iron Beam, the Lite Beam, the mobile Iron Beam-M, and the Iron Beam 450, are designed to intercept and destroy a vast array of aerial threats with precision. Considering the technology’s near-zero per-interception cost and reduced collateral impact, the Iron Beam will surely play a major role in Israel’s air defense strategy going forward.
As explained by Brig. Gen Daniel Gold, the head of the Israeli Defense Force’s (IDF) Directorate of Defense Research and Development, “Israel is the first country in the world to present a large-scale operational laser interception capability. The vision of the laser was demonstrated during the war with immense operational and technological success.”
What We Know About the Iron Beam
The Iron Beam has gained widespread media attention in recent months following its premiere combat interceptions in May. Developed by Israeli defense contractor Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the impressive directed-energy weapon air defense system truly embodies what it means to be a futuristic technology. The Iron Beam is largely connected to the US Strategic Defense Initiative, formed under the Ronald Reagan administration in the 1980s. Known as the “Star Wars” program, the proposed missile defense system included studies of advanced weapons concepts. However, the program was ultimately nixed due to technological shortfalls of the time. Israel continued to research the possibility of such weapons and was able to build a prototype for its Iron Beam program back in 2014. The Iron Beam uses a solid crystalline material to focus the beam, rather than gas or liquid, like many earlier directed-energy weapons prototypes designed in the 1980s. Since the Israeli defense system reportedly costs a mere $2 per interception, it clearly represents a cheaper alternative to its counterparts like the Iron Dome.
What About Israel’s Other Air Defense Systems?
The Iron Beam may be more cost-friendly and futuristic than its sister air defense systems in Israel, but the directed-energy weapon cannot replace the work of the Iron Dome, the Arrow 2/3 systems, or David’s Sling. The Iron Dome functions as Israel’s first layer of defense. Specializing in taking out short-range rockets and other projectiles, the Iron Dome has been an effective measure in countering the mass barrages launched by Hamas and Hezbollah. David’s Sling is the middle layer in Israel’s defense apparatus, designed to counter the threat of medium to long-range rockets. The crux of the weapon system is the Stunner missile, which, according to Raytheon, is proven to defeat at least 92 percent of the worldwide ballistic missile threat inventory. Israel’s Arrow systems were developed to intercept long-range missiles by operating outside the atmosphere and make up the highest tier of the IDF’s air defense.
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has bylines in many publications, including The National Interest, The Jerusalem Post, and The Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.
Image: Marie Selissky / Shutterstock.com
