Israel have unveiled the world’s first laser-based interception system that can shoot down enemy missiles and drones for just $2 per blast.
The £413million Light Shield – also known as Iron Beam – fires beams of light with between 100kW and 150kW of energy at targets several kilometres away with pinpoint accuracy.
Now, after completing development and passing its final tests, the state-of-the-art weapon, which ‘never runs out of ammo’, has officially been declared operational.
After being in development for over a decade, the cutting edge weapon will be delivered to the military by the end of this year.
Taking to X to share the game-changing achievement, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett posted a clip of the Light Shield in action, blasting enemy drones out of the sky.
‘For the first time ever, our new Light Shield laser defence system successfully shut down dozens of enemy UAVs, using only a beam of light,’ he said.
Describing how the technology works, Bennett explained that the moment an incoming threat, such as a rocket, drone, or UAV, is detected, a high energy laser locks on and destroys it in mid-air within around two seconds.
‘When a missile is coming in, hundreds of micro lasers are fired at once towards that missile, and then a very clever algorithm identifies which one of them hit the target and then tells all the other laser beams to redirect and then the full laser power hits that exact point.
The £413million Light Shield – also known as Iron Beam – fires beams of light with between 100kW and 150kW of energy at targets several kilometres away with pinpoint accuracy
Describing how the technology works, the Israeli Prime Minister explained that the moment an incoming threat, such as a rocket, drone, or UAV, is detected, a high energy laser locks on and destroys it in mid-air within around two seconds
The laser systems offer Israel a more cost-effective solution to combatting air threats
‘We don’t need interceptor missiles like an Iron Dome,’ he added. ‘There’s no explosion over the cities, just clean, silent defence. And its at the speed of light’.
Dramatic footage shows the system in action, carefully scanning the sky before blitzing an incoming drone that then crashes to the ground.
The laser systems offer Israel a more cost-effective solution to combatting air threats.
Bennett said this was the ‘real game changer’ as each Iron Dome interception costs around $70,000, whereas a laser interception ‘required just a few dollars of electricity’.
The PM added: ‘That means that we’re going to drain our enemies’ money, their resources, while protecting our own people at almost zero cost’.
Other benefits include requiring less manpower to operate and move, making it easier to conceal.
The Light Shield will not be replacing the Iron Dome, or Israel’s other air defence systems, but will be integrated into their already advanced arsenal, ‘creating a layered and very powerful defence for all of Israel’.
Bennett confirmed they will be covering the entire country with the laser systems and have also offered to sell the advanced technology – ‘but only to our friends’.
‘This is not just a military upgrade, it’s a revolution in defence technology’, he added.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said: ‘The Iron Beam places the State of Israel at the forefront of global military technology and makes the State of Israel the first country to possess this capability.’
He added: ‘This is not only a moment of national pride, but a historic milestone for our defense envelope.
Israel’s Iron Dome uses a sophisticated radar to detect incoming airborne objects such as a drones, rockets, and missiles
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip in January 2024
‘A fast, precise interception at marginal cost that joins the existing defensive tools and changes the threat equation,’ he said.
There is, however, a significant tradeoff.
While the Iron Dome is an all-weather system, able to defend against missiles and rockets in rain, fog, dust storms and low clouds, the Light Shield can only be effectively used in dry conditions as water particles in the air diffuse and absorb the concentrated light.
And while Iron Dome missiles can destroy targets in an instant, Light Shields often have to stay trained on their targets for several seconds before they are destroyed.
The Light Shield is expected to down smaller projectiles, while leaving larger ones for the more robust missile-based weapons such as the David’s Sling and Arrow systems.
The Iron Dome is Israel’s most famed missile shield, intercepting short-range rockets as well as shells and mortar.
Iron Dome batteries are scattered across the country, with each base housing three or four launchers. Each launcher has 20 interceptor missiles.
A radar system detects rockets and calculates the trajectory, while a control system estimates the impact point. An operator then decides whether to launch rockets to intercept.
David’s Sling destroys longer-range rockets, cruise missiles and medium or long-range ballistic missiles. It started operation in 2017 and, similar to the Dome, only stops missiles that threaten civilians and infrastructure.
While Iron Dome missiles can destroy targets in an instant, Iron Beams often have to stay trained on their targets for several seconds
Arrow 2 blasts short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles out of the sky while they are travelling through the upper atmosphere.
It is able to detect missiles up to 500km away. Missiles from Arrow 2 can travel at nine times the speed of sound – firing up to 14 targets at once.
Meanwhile, Arrow 3 intercepts long-range ballistic missiles as they travel at the top of their arc outside the Earth’s atmosphere.
The latest technological marvel was designed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
They also renamed the system in Hebrew from Magen Or, which means light shield, to Or Eitan, meaning Eitan’s light.
The name is dedicated to Captain Eitan Oster, 22, an Israeli commander who was killed fighting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in October 2024.
