Israel Just Changed Modern Warfare With Iron Beam

By Amit Segal

Israel announced that it has declared one of its most brilliant defense developments as operational: the “Iron Beam” laser interception system, also known as “Laser Dome.”

This is truly an astounding achievement, and in order to break down just why, I’ll look at a recent speech by Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the board of Israeli defense company Rafael, which developed the Iron Beam alongside the Ministry of Defense’s Directorate of Defense Research & Development (DDR&D), and the Israeli Air Force.

First, how it actually works.

“With a laser we destroy the target essentially by a beam of light, by rays of light that travel at 300,000 km [185,000 miles] per second,” Steinitz said. “The moment the target is seen, it is destroyed… The target almost doesn’t move, because the speed of the laser is so great that the targets appear as if they stand still.”

Set to be delivered to the IDF by the end of 2025, it will initially focus on “short- and medium-range missiles,” according to Steinitz. But within five years, he believes Israel will also have a laser that can intercept ballistic missiles from Iran and Yemen.

The practical implications for Israeli skies are astonishing. “In five to ten years,” Steinitz said, “nothing hostile will fly in the air—nothing hostile: not aircraft, not UAVs, not cruise missiles, not shells, not bombs—because the laser will completely clear the air of anything that is detected.”

The only way to get past the laser system, according to Steinitz? “If it simply goes unseen or unnoticed.”

This is, of course, also a historic breakthrough, with the Rafael head noting that global powers have been trying to create a laser weapon for six decades.

But there’s more. The Laser Dome also has an incredible economic upside. While technologically brilliant, Israel’s current missile and rocket interception systems are exceedingly expensive. Indeed, during the 12 day war against Iran, Israeli and American launches of missile interceptors reportedly cost nearly $1.5 billion. In other words, from interceptor launches alone, the war cost over $86,000 per minute.

And the Iron Beam? An interception costs around one or two dollars per shot. And unlike the Iron Dome and Arrow systems, it doesn’t require constant reproduction.

Indeed, the laser system has already been successfully used in the latest war against Hezbollah and Iran to shoot down dozens of UAVs.

Steinitz also placed the breakthrough in the context of thousands of years of warfare. “Throughout military history, from ancient Greece or Egypt to the present day, armies have used projectiles—physical objects like arrows, spears, and today, bombs, shells, and missiles,” he said. “These are solid objects, bullets flying through the air to hit their target. With lasers, we destroy the target using a beam of light traveling at 300,000 km per second.”

So no, it’s not hyperbole to say that the Jewish state has just changed the face of warfare.

But the system also has a personal touch to it. Its Hebrew name has been changed to Or Eitan (Eitan’s Light), in memory of Eitan Oster. In October 2024, Eitan, 22, became the first IDF soldier killed during the military’s ground operation in Lebanon. Eitan’s father, Dubi, was one of the “initiators and developers” of the Iron Beam project, according to the Defense Ministry.

VIDEO:

Development of the Iron Beam laser interception system has been completed, and it will now be renamed “Ohr Eitan” (“Eitan’s Light”) — after Eitan Oster, who fell during a maneuver in Lebanon and whose father was one of its developers.

The system will be inducted into the IDF at… pic.twitter.com/aH8Pg5GEyt

— Amit Segal (@AmitSegal) September 17, 2025