Forward of the distinguished Paris Air Present later this month, Israeli firm Rafael Superior Protection Programs has unveiled its laser system, which is comprised of three variations: Iron Beam, Iron Beam M, and Lite Beam.
On the Paris exhibition, Rafael will current Iron Beam 450, an upgraded model of the Iron Beam system that features a 450 millimeter aperture beam director as an alternative of 250 millimeters. This offers the system with an upgraded working vary, increased accuracy and very excessive effectivity. Iron Beam is the one system of its variety on the earth with laser energy as excessive as100 kilowatts. The mix of excessive power with the aperture beam director permits a spread of about 10 km, and excessive accuracy regardless of the constraints of the laser.
These limitations embody a major lower in effectivity throughout cloudy and hazy situations, whereas its main benefit is that every interception prices $5-$10 in contrast with $30,000 for every Iron Dome interception. Iron Beam works utilizing a a single robust beam that diverges. It launches 100-200 such beams and when the system detects that one beam has hit its goal, it instructs all of the beams to be on an equivalent frequency and concentrate on the goal.
As a result of limitations of the laser, Iron Beam and the Iron Dome might be deployed aspect by aspect, in order that they complement one another. Israel’s Ministry of Protection revealed final week that the Iron Beam system has already carried out operational interceptions in the course of the warfare. With the larger 450 millimeter aperture, Iron Beam might be deployed close to borders, inhabitants facilities and strategic infrastructures to guard them from missiles, rockets, drones and mortars.
On the similar time, Rafael has produced Iron Beam M – a cell model of the laser system. This can be a smaller model of Iron Beam with a 250 millimeter aperture and 50 kilowatts energy, which could be put in on an X88 truck, and because of the decreased energy, its vary can be about half that of the common Iron Beam. With its fast deployment capabilities, Iron Beam M will present safety for maneuvering forces and strategic infrastructures with all its methods are on the identical truck. Because of its decrease energy, it is going to be in a position to take care of rockets, drones, and mortars.
A good smaller model is Lite Beam with 10 kilowatts energy. It’s even lighter and extra cell than Iron Beam M, and is designed to be put in on 4X4 autos or armored personnel carriers, and to supply cell tactical safety for maneuvering forces towards drones. Mixed with Rafael’s Trophy system for cover towards anti-tank missiles, Lite Beam will considerably improve safety for maneuvering forces.
Rafael EVP and Basic Supervisor of the Land and Naval Programs Division Tzvi Marmor explains that Trophy is the one energetic protection system on the earth that has been confirmed on the battlefield, whereas it’s put in on many a whole bunch of Merkava tanks and Tiger armored personnel carriers. This technique, much like the air protection system, has achieved interception capabilities of 90% or extra on Israel’s northern and southern fronts, regardless of the unprecedented variety of anti-tank missiles fired in the course of the warfare. “Trophy has been operational since 2010, however the threats are altering, and we’re adapting the system for this,” says Marmor. “Through the warfare, Rafael launched software program variations designed to take care of the brand new challenges.”
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Over time, Rafael has invested a whole bunch of thousands and thousands of {dollars} within the Iron Beam challenge, and in the course of the warfare it has carried out greater than 40 interceptions within the northern theater. This success has brought on worldwide corporations concerned within the improvement of laser-based protection methods to strategy the Israeli firm as a consequence of its success, to debate cooperation. On the similar time, Rafael Chairman Yuval Steinitz says that the corporate is just not resting on its laurels, and even earlier than Iron Beam might be formally operational within the final quarter of 2025, it’s conducting analysis to extend the system’s vary.
“The significance of this improvement can’t be overstated, and never solely from the standpoint of Israel and the safety implications,” Steinitz stresses. “By way of the historical past of science and expertise, there’s a breakthrough right here. Ever because the laser was found within the Sixties, it has been clear that it is a particular, very energetic and concentrated beam of sunshine. Purposes started, for printers and eye surgical procedure, with a laser, or for reducing metal. Solely there they do it at a distance of a centimeter, and right here we’re coping with a a lot higher problem for the laser, which, like a light-weight beam, disperses, particularly as a consequence of temperature variations. 5 years in the past, three researchers with PhDs in physics at Rafael made a breakthrough that might be remembered within the historical past of expertise. They managed to transmit the laser exactly, in order that metal could be lower at a spread of a kilometer and that made laser weapons potential.”
Rafael CEO Yoav Tourgeman, who has intensive expertise in Israel’s protection industries, together with an extended profession at IAI and Elta, sees laser methods as a turning level on the trendy battlefield. “The price of interception is falling, there isn’t a journal to load and it is a revolution. That is the primary time that the financial benefit within the marketing campaign is on the aspect of the defender and never the attacker.”
Tourgeman additionally spoke about Spain’s choice to droop the procurement of Rafael’s Spike missiles from its Spanish subsidiary PAP Tecnos. He says, “Spain is a long-standing buyer which has purchased very massive portions of missiles from us, and has energetic contracts with us. We’ve got not acquired any cancellations from any buyer thus far, and we’re within the technique of investigating. Changing the missiles and procuring, for instance, Javelin, is a course of that will take greater than six years. We’ve got not acquired any discover of cancellation of a young, contract, or something like that. Typically, there are framework orders, during which somebody says that they wish to purchase a amount for a decade, after which every year they take a sure amount from that.”
Revealed by Globes, Israel enterprise information – en.globes.co.il – on June 5, 2025.
© Copyright of Globes Writer Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.
