Israel’s Ministry of Defence (IMOD) announced it has demonstrated its 100 kilowatt laser directed energy weapon (LDEW) system alongside the Air Force and Rafael on 17 September 2025.
Iron Beam, now fully mature, is a ground-based laser weapon system which the IMOD said will be used in an air defence role. It is said that the system proved effective in “a complete operational configuration”, intercepting rockets, mortars, aircraft, and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) over a period of several weeks.
The first systems are scheduled for integration into the Israel Defence Forces’ (IDF) integrated air and missile defence (IAMD) arrays before the end of 2025.
Lasers for C-UAS
Though in its current state, LDEW technology remains incapable of delivering the ‘ace-in-the-hole’ solution to nuclear weapons originally envisaged in the Strategic Defense Initiative, ‘Star Wars’ programme during the Cold War, LWS and high-power microwave weapons platforms have proven successful as counter-uncrewed aerial systems (C-UAS) technologies.
According to GlobalData’s strategic intelligence report on Counter-Drone Technologies, published in September 2025, DEW systems have the potential to succeed as a C-UAS solution because of the unique firing techniques.
LWS have the potential to bring an extremely low cost-per-shot value to C-UAS systems. The UK’s DragonFire system, which fired over 300 shots in July 2025, is said to cost ten pence per shot compared to the millions it takes to procure surface-to-air missiles.
As drones of all sizes proliferate, the economics of interdiction must be considered. To that end, Iron Beam, according to Rafael, has almost zero cost per interception.
However, GlobalData’s projection suggests that many LDEW C-UAS systems are not yet battle-ready. The first few Royal Navy destroyers will not deploy DragonFire until 2027 onwards.
Nonetheless, every competitive military is investing in the C-UAS field, with the US Department of Defense (now the Department of War) pursuing scalable small C-UAS effectors through the Replicator 2 initiative – one of the few policy remnants to survive the Trump administration.
Enhancing Israel’s IAMD
Iron Beam is expected to integrate into Israel’s multi-layered air defence array as a complementary capability to the Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow air defence systems.
The LDEW system uses Rafael’s unique ‘adaptive optics’ technology, which overcomes atmospheric distortions, ensuring a stable, focused, and precise beam. This ensures precision strike against small, fast-moving targets – a key requirement of LDEWs, with the US calling industry to deliver low-collateral effects.
First announced in May 2024, operational prototypes of Rafael’s short-range tactical laser systems have been deployed throughout the current war, which the IMOD claim, have intercepted and defeated dozens of threats. Following the recent test success, the government anticipate a significant leap in air defence capabilities through the deployment of these long-range laser weapon systems.
IMOD director general, Major General Amir Baram, asserted that “this is the first time in the world that a high-power laser interception system has reached full operational maturity.”
Defining the phrase – full operational maturity – is a complex endeavour. Other countries have proven the effect of sovereign LDEWs, with China even exporting some systems, such as the Silent Hunter, but it is difficult to determine the full effect of systems at this stage with any certainty.
