As the DoD seeks out contract bids for its ambitious, yet controversial Golden Dome aerial defense shield, Israeli defense firm Rafael CEO Yoav Turgeman thinks his company’s “Iron Beam,” a giant laser system which can destroy aerial threats on contact, would make a great addition.
Nearly operational after years in development, Iron Beam will be integrated into Israel’s operational Iron Dome aerial defense system, which uses individual missile interceptors to neutralize incoming aerial threats, like rockets and missiles — to revolutionize Israel’s defenses. The Iron Dome system has seen heavy use during Israel’s war on Gaza.
In turn, America’s Golden Dome concept, though not finalized, is broadly imagined as a way to scale up Iron Dome’s capacities — toward defending the whole of the U.S.
Asked about it on the National News Desk Friday, Turgeman said his laser beam technology could “absolutely” be used to assist the Golden Dome system, much like Iron Beam will assist Iron Dome.
“The United States is our biggest ally. And we would be more than delighted to support, to help, to give our experience and some of our technologies that might be critical,” he said.
Here, Turgeman talked up a primary selling point for Rafael’s laser beams: whereas Iron Dome missile interceptors cost about $50,000 each, lasers can do the same thing, at little cost.
“Currently, the cost of the laser beam is the energy itself — a few dollars per interception,” Turgeman said.
That price tag might sound appealing to Golden Dome proponents, especially as Golden Dome’s estimated costs soar from hundreds of billions, to even trillions, of dollars — and while critics wonder whether the endeavor, of using individual missile interceptors to protect the whole of the U.S. from incoming projectiles, is feasible altogether.
The National News Desk reported that Rafael was in talks with other American defense contractors to potentially collaborate on Golden Dome, though no formal announcements have been made.
The CEO’s laser beam-for-defense idea sounds like it comes from science fiction. In fact it comes, in part, from the U.S. which has heavily invested in the technology for military purposes.
Spending about $1 billion each year toward the development of directed energy weapons, which includes laser systems, the U.S. put $1.2 billion toward Israel’s Iron Beam alone last year. It has also considered repurposing Iron Beam for its own air defense systems.
Ultimately, directed energy systems like Iron Beam may soon help nations to cheaply, yet effectively, protect themselves from incoming aerial threats. But their ability to quickly destroy systems on contact may well prove destructive for the future of war, where repurposing these lasers to offensive ends could be a simple feat.
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