Israel unveils Light Shield laser defense, a first-of-its-kind intercept system at low cost

Israel on Monday said its Light Shield laser defense system—also known as Iron Beam—has completed development and is now operational, marking the first time a laser-based interceptor has been declared ready to defend a national airspace. The system is designed to shoot down missiles and drones for about $2 per interception, a fraction of the cost of traditional interceptor missiles. Developed over more than a decade at a price tag of roughly £413 million, Light Shield uses high-energy beams to engage threats several kilometers away and is intended to be added to Israel’s existing defenses by the end of the year.

Officials cast Light Shield as a complementary rather than a replacement for Iron Dome and other air-defense tools. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett posted a clip on X showing the system in operation, saying it “for the first time ever” shut down dozens of enemy UAVs with a beam of light. He described the mechanism: once an incoming threat—be it a rocket, drone, or UAV—is detected, a high-energy laser locks on and destroys it in mid-air within roughly two seconds. “When a missile is coming in, hundreds of micro lasers are fired at once toward that missile, and then a very clever algorithm identifies which one hit the target and then tells all the other laser beams to redirect and then the full laser power hits that exact point,” Bennett said. The system is rated at between 100 kilowatts and 150 kilowatts of energy and can engage targets at several kilometers with pinpoint accuracy.

Bennett described Light Shield as a potential game changer, arguing that a laser interception costs only a few dollars of electricity while Iron Dome interceptors cost around $70,000 each. He added that the technology would let Israel “drain our enemies’ money, their resources, while protecting our own people at almost zero cost.” He also highlighted additional benefits, including reduced manpower needs and greater ease of concealment for the defense system. Still, he stressed that Light Shield would be deployed as part of a layered defense rather than as a wholesale replacement for existing systems.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Iron Beam places Israel at the forefront of global military technology and makes the State the first country to possess this capability. He called the system a “fast, precise interception at marginal cost that joins the existing defensive tools and changes the threat equation.” Katz also cautioned that there are tradeoffs: while Iron Dome is an all-weather system able to defend against missiles and rockets in rain, fog, dust storms and low clouds, Light Shield works best in dry conditions because airborne water particles can diffuse and absorb the concentrated light. And whereas Iron Dome missiles destroy targets in an instant, Light Shield may need to stay trained on a threat for several seconds to ensure destruction.

The Light Shield is not expected to replace Iron Dome or Israel’s other air-defense assets. Instead, officials say it will be integrated to provide a layered, more robust defense for the entire country. The Iron Dome system, which uses radar to detect incoming rockets, is complemented by David’s Sling, Arrow 2, and Arrow 3, each serving different ranges and missile types. Iron Dome intercepts short-range rockets and mortars; David’s Sling targets longer-range rockets and cruise missiles; Arrow 2 is designed to intercept short- and medium-range ballistic missiles with the capacity to target up to 500 kilometers away and to engage multiple threats simultaneously, while Arrow 3 defends against long-range ballistic missiles.

The system’s developers, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, said the project was renamed in Hebrew from Magen Or, meaning light shield, to Or Eitan, meaning Eitan’s light. The renaming honors Captain Eitan Oster, a 22-year-old Israeli commander who was killed while fighting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in October 2024. As Israel moves to field Light Shield, officials indicated that the country intends to export the technology only to trusted partners, underscoring its strategic significance as a potential template for future laser-based defense in other theaters.

In sum, Israel’s Light Shield marks a milestone in defense technology: a high-energy laser capable of intercepting missiles and drones with significantly lower per-intercept costs, integrated into a broader, layered defense framework. While it must contend with environmental and operational constraints, the system promises to augment the country’s protective envelope and reshape the cost dynamics of defensive warfare for air threats.