Could Israel turn to laser weapons for shooting down drones?

Israel may rush into production a high-energy laser weapon to help counter the mass strikes by Hamas using short and medium-range rockets, artillery and drones. Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system has been in constant use since the Hamas offensive began nine days ago, and has successfully destroyed a significant proportion of the rockets. However, the simultaneous drone and mortar attacks launched from Gaza have put Iron Dome under stress. The laser air-defence weapon called Iron Beam has been successfully tested although it’s not due to become operational until next year or 2025. The 100-kilowatt directed-energy laser weapon, developed by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, has been designed to destroy rockets, artillery, mortars and drones with intense heat. Rafael also developed the Iron Dome and the David’s Sling system which was designed for intercepting long-range tactical ballistic missiles at low altitude. In the past, the US and other countries, including Israel, have turned to weapons still under development for emergency combat use. A laser defence system would be considerably cheaper, although the effectiveness of directed-energy weapons can vary depending on weather and atmospheric conditions. Local reports from the region that the Iron Beam laser weapon has already been used against Hamas rockets have proved to be inaccurate. However, Yehoshua Kalisky of Tel Aviv university’s Institute for National Security Studies told the Telegraph: “The laser works. The only problem that I see is to integrate it into all the early warning systems. [But] I think it will be operational very soon.” Israel has led the way in devising weapons to combat the new range of threats posed by increasingly sophisticated airborne systems. Kinetic systems, such as the anti-missile rockets designed for Israel’s Iron Dome, are expensive and not always capable of confronting multiple strikes. Laser weapons have a number of advantages. The burning laser travels at the speed of light and is unlimited, unlike the Iron Dome whose launchers have to be reloaded to maintain a constant interception capability. The cost of each laser intercept is estimated to be around $3.5, compared with about $60,000 for an Iron Dome missile interceptor. Rafael has developed two weapon systems: the Iron Beam which can hit a target from a distance of a few hundred metres up to several kilometres, and the Lite Beam, a 7.5 kilowatt laser interceptor capable of neutralising drones and ground targets such as improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from up to 200 metres away. Rafael says the first proven prototype of the Lite Beam is already available. The Iron Dome and Iron Beam systems are intended to work in tandem as part of a layered air-defence shield. If Israel manages to get Iron Beam into operational service for the war with Hamas, it will significantly reduce the cost of countering the rocket and drone strikes from Gaza.