How Israel’s new laser-defense system will turn the tables on Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran

Israel’s Iron Dome fires to intercept a rocket from the Gaza Strip. AP

Israel’s defenses took a giant leap forward this week when — for the first time ever — it used a laser beam to shoot down an incoming rocket fired by terrorists in Gaza.

This isn’t science fiction, but the product of years of research and experimentation.

The US military is doing its own laser-beam or “directed energy” research, and Israel and the United States cooperate.

Lockheed Martin and Israel’s Rafael are developing Iron Beam, and ultimately it can mean not only ground-based laser defenses but lasers to mount on ships and planes as well.

Israel fielded the weapon for the first time in combat a few days ago, and it could change the country’s air-defense posture in the next few years.

It’s called Iron Sting and is part of the larger Iron Beam laser-defense system.

Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system is well known, and it works beautifully: 90% effective.

But it is expensive: Each Iron Dome battery can cost $100 million, and each interceptor costs between $40,000 and $50,000.

As Hamas fires its thousands of rockets and missiles at Israel — it’s fired an estimated 10,000 since Oct. 7 — the costs of defense mount and the supply of interceptors can run out.

Iron Dome batteries typically have about 60 to 80 interceptor missiles at hand.

What if Hezbollah or Hamas fires 100 missiles at one location?

A laser system overcomes these problems.

As long as you have electricity, you have laser beams to fire again and again at incoming threats.

Swarms of approaching missiles can’t overwhelm the number of interceptors you have on hand, and there’s no need to worry about resupply — the kind of resupply the United States is now providing Israel.

Of course, it only works to protect the population if the technology is mature and the systems can really be fielded.

That has not been true until now, but progress is swift.

As recently as August, the US Missile Defense Agency executive director said the technology was not quite there.

The agency “in the past few years kind of backed away,” she told Breaking Defense, partly because “that technology still needed to mature. It needed to mature in power levels that could be delivered on target” and in “reduction of the size, weight and power requirements.”

Now, she said, “that technology maturation is happening” — and “there have been some really impressive results. We’ve been doing studies all along and looking at lethality effects and doing experimentation. But we think that, finally, we’re starting to see some real progress, and so that’s why the increased emphasis.”

As she explained, “there’s so many advantages of having a potential directed-energy engagement system — give the warfighter additional engagement opportunities, save interceptors, lower cost per engagement. So lots of great potential for directed energy.”

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Think of Hezbollah’s arsenal, sometimes estimated at 130,000 to 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel.

Most of these are unguided short- and medium-range rockets, but hundreds of them — and maybe more — are precision-guided missiles.

Aimed at key targets like Israel’s air-force bases, power plants, desalination plants and Ben Gurion Airport, they could do immense damage.

Rockets and missiles from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah are why Israel has developed a sophisticated, multilayer air-defense system.

It has Iron Dome for short-range rockets, David’s Sling to stop medium-range missiles, Arrow for medium- and long-range missiles and America’s Patriot missile-defense system as well.

High-energy lasers traveling at the speed of light and costing no more per shot than the cost of the electric power needed mean an endless supply and far lower expense.

Today, Israel can be forced to spend thousands or tens of thousands of dollars to shoot down Hamas rockets that cost $600 each.

With lasers, the balance of costs all of a sudden will favor the defender, not the aggressor.

Neither Israel nor the United States has conquered all the obstacles to fielding laser-defense weapons widely; first comes the technology, then the need to manufacture the systems and get them into the field.

Israel took a leap forward this past week, actually using a laser weapon in combat to shoot down a Hamas rocket.

No doubt Hezbollah and Iran are watching and worrying.

Israel began developing Iron Dome in 2007, and the first batteries were in the field four years later. It will take time for Iron Beam to be fully fielded and become part of the shield protecting Israel.

But Israel and the United States have developed a critical new kind of air defense for both countries.

Iron Beam will save Israeli lives and make those of terrorists harder — cause for real celebration.

Elliott Abrams, a former assistant secretary of state, is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.