Iron Beam 450: Israel completes development of laser air defence

The Israeli Ministry of Defence (IMOD), in partnership with Rafael Advanced Defence Systems and Elbit Systems, has announced the completion of development of Iron Beam 450, its high-power laser air defence system, in a September 17 press release.

Following a series of successful tests in southern Israel, the system is now ready for operational deployment with the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), with the first units expected to be integrated into air defence arrays by the end of the year, the press release states. The trials demonstrated Iron Beam’s ability to intercept a range of threats, including rockets, mortars, aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Iron Beam 450 is a ground-based high-energy laser system designed to complement Israel’s existing multi-layered air defence architecture, which is missile-based. The IMOD’s Directorate of Defence Research & Development (DDR&D) has spearheaded the project, with Rafael as the primary developer. Elbit Systems has developed and produced the laser source, which is a device that produces a beam of highly concentrated, coherent, and monochromatic light through the process of stimulated emission. Essentially, it’s the “engine” that generates the laser beam.

The system uses laser technology to neutralise threats with high precision and at a negligible cost per interception. Rafael’s “adaptive optics” technology is central to its operation, providing a stable and focused beam. Operational prototypes of Rafael’s short-range tactical laser systems have already been deployed during the current conflict and have successfully intercepted dozens of threats, according to the MoD.

Defence Minister Israel Katz described the achievement as a “historic milestone” for the nation’s defence. He stated that the new system offers “rapid, precise interception at marginal cost” and joins existing systems to “change the threat equation.” The Israeli air defence capability consists of several components designed to address different threats. Until now, the lower tier has been provided by Iron Dome, a high-capacity system designed to intercept drones and rockets. 

The next level is provided by David’s Sling, which is built to detect and intercept cruise missiles. It was recently upgraded to improve its performance against a wider array of threats. The upper tier is provided by Arrow 2 and Arrow 3, which are designed to intercept ballistic missiles inside and outside of the Earth’s atmosphere. This formidable array is complemented by Patriot batteries, and on occasion by THAAD systems from the US. Other air forces have contributed to Israel’s air defence by intercepting drones and missiles in air-to-air engagements and by providing intelligence during Iran’s biggest attacks. 

However, providing this level of defence is very expensive. Hamas and Hezbollah have fired tens of thousands of rockets at Israel, and Iran has fired hundreds of drones, cruise and ballistic missiles, most of which were intercepted. For context, Iron Dome is thought to cost around $50,000 per interceptor, which indicates a total cost of $500 million for 10,000 interceptions, assuming one missile per threat.

The Iron Beam 450 laser system showing the lasers mounted on a container. Credit: Israeli MoD

To that end, Brig. Gen. (Res.) Dr Daniel Gold, Head of DDR&D, expressed confidence that the combination of laser and missile interceptors will “significantly strengthen our defence envelope against rockets, missiles, UAVs, and emerging threats.” Lasers are powered by electricity, which is much cheaper than a missile, and work by burning through the target. This means that they need to illuminate a target, possibly for a few seconds, in order to defeat it. However, they can be very accurate albeit limited in range. The video for Iron Beam 450 shows the system intercepting rockets, missiles, a Shahed-like drone, and a mortar bomb. It is not clear how the system is cued onto the targets, but it does appear that both lasers are used in all interceptions to engage a single target. This suggests that the system will be able to contribute to defending Israel, but its overall impact will depend on the number of systems procured and the area that they are able to cover.

Calibre comment

High energy lasers and other directed energy weapons are growing in importance with many different efforts underway around the world to introduce them into service. The UK is planning to integrate the DragonFire laser onto some of its Type 45 air defence destroyers, for example. Recently, a NATO country ordered the high energy laser system from EOS for drone defence, which was named Apollo during DSEI 2025. The US Army is experimenting with the Integrated Fires Protection Capability High-Powered Microwave(IFPC-HPM), which has been developed for the US Army by a company called Epirus. It is designed to provide protection of fixed infrastructure and launch sites from UAV swarm attacks using high-power microwave beams. This is a logical development for the defence industry given the proliferation of drones in the past decade, but it is worth noting that the US Navy first used a laser to intercept a TOW missile in 1978. The technology has improved since then, becoming safer and more usable, but it is far from new. 

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on September 18, 2025. Credit for the lead image is the Israeli MoD and it shows Iron Beam 450 intercepting a target.