By Kris Osborn, President, Warrior Maven
Attacking rockets, missiles, drones and aircraft will soon be incinerated from a new Israeli ground-based laser weapon slated for operational deployment next year. The weapon, called Iron Beam, will operate as support to Iron Dome and give ground commanders a wider range of options when it comes to using a countermeasure to protect against incoming missiles.
The Iron Beam system is made by well-known Israeli defense giants Rafael and Elbit, and it will bring a new sphere of combat options for ground commanders looking to protect civilians from Hamas and Hezbollah rockets.
The merits of laser weapons are both significant and well known, as they are low cost and can be quickly scaled to attack, disable or simply delay or damage and incoming target depending upon operational need. A scalable weapon introduces options and a clear tactical benefit to ground defenders who might, for example, wish to intercept or disable an approaching missile without causing large amounts of fragmentation and explosive effects potentially dangerous to civilians. Iron Beam can help mitigate or in come cases remove the risk of generating large “explosions” above civilian areas, yet still succeed in intercepting, stopping or disrupting incoming enemy attack missiles, drones, aircraft and artillery.
Lasers are low cost and enable an extensive magazine, as they require mobile electrical power to generate the weapon. Lasers also attack at the speed of light and, should a target be identified quickly, they can destroy or incinerate incoming attacks at further stand-off distances. Yet another key advantage with laser interceptors is that they can potentially be “massed” or “scaled” to intercept a number of attacking missiles at one time. This could introduce new methods of intercepting an incoming “salvo” of missiles at one time.
