Ministry of Defense directorate of defense R&D (DDR&D) (MAFAT) head Brig. Gen. (res.) Danny Gold announced today that Israel’s laser air defense system Or Eitan (Iron Beam), has completed development and trials procedures and will be delivered to the IDF on December 30. Gold was speaking at DefenseTech Week 2025 held by MAFAT in collaboration with Tel Aviv University’s Yuval Neeman Workshop for Science, Technology and Defense.
Gold said that the Iron Beam system would, "Change the rules of the game of the battlefield. In the field of defensetech, the game has changed - startups are now competing 'head to head' with the big companies and are winning. Only recently, a number of startups that joined forces competed against all the big industries in a MAFAT tender and were chosen to provide the IDF with an array of attack drones."
Ministry of Defense director general Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram told the conference about preparations for another expected operation against Iran. "All fronts are still open and our enemies are learning and preparing day by day. This period brings with it uncertainty and risks, but also great strategic opportunities for those who understand the moment. The Ministry of Defense is deep in work on developing the next generations of breakthrough technology for a future confrontation with Iran, in defense and attack, and is developing additional capabilities.
"Insights from soldiers in the field directly shape the technological solutions for their operational needs. We have a direct feedback loop from the front line to defense industry engineers and this creates a strong supply chain. This is what defenstech means in Israel."
Major fall in effectiveness during haze
The laser defense system, developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, which is the prime contractor for the laser program, includes three main systems.
The first and largest is Iron Beam 450, an upgrade to the original system, which includes a 450 millimeter aperture beam director instead of 250 millimeters. This provides the system with an upgraded operating range, higher accuracy and extremely high efficiency. Iron Beam is the only system of its kind in the world with laser power as high as 100 kilowatts. The combination of high energy with the aperture beam director allows a range of about 10 kilometers, and high accuracy despite the limitations of the laser.
These limitations include a significant decrease in efficiency during cloudy and hazy conditions, while its major advantage is that each interception costs $5-$10 compared with $30,000 for each Iron Dome interception. Iron Beam works using a a single strong beam that diverges. It launches 100-200 such beams and when the system detects that one beam has hit its target, it instructs all the beams to be on an identical frequency and focus on the target.
Due to the limitations of the laser, Iron Beam and Iron Dome will be deployed side by side, complementing each other. Israel's Ministry of Defense revealed earlier this year that the Iron Beam system carried out operational interceptions during the war. With the bigger 450 millimeter aperture, Iron Beam will be deployed near borders, population centers and strategic infrastructures to protect them from missiles, rockets, drones and mortars.
Rafael has also produced Iron Beam M - a mobile version of the laser system. This is a smaller version of Iron Beam with a 250 millimeter aperture and 50 kilowatts power, which can be installed on an X88 truck, and as a result of the reduced power, its range is also about half that of the regular Iron Beam. With its rapid deployment capabilities, Iron Beam M will provide protection for maneuvering forces and strategic infrastructures with all its systems are on the same truck. Due to its lower power, it will be able to deal with rockets, drones, and mortars.
An even smaller version is Lite Beam with 10 kilowatts power. It is even lighter and more mobile than Iron Beam M and is designed to be installed on 4X4 vehicles or armored personnel carriers, and to provide mobile tactical protection for maneuvering forces against drones. Combined with Rafael's Trophy system for protection against anti-tank missiles, Lite Beam will significantly enhance protection for maneuvering forces.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 1, 2025.
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