Wikimedia Commons

One of Israel's Iron Dome batteries, which will work in tandem with the Iron Beam laser system. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

A homemade rocket ignites in the Gaza strip and screams toward a small town in Southern Israel. Warning sirens blare as civilians duck for cover, but miles away the Iron Dome missile defense system has already begun its sweep across the skyline. In a matter of seconds, the Iron Dome locks onto the incoming rocket, fires a missile and strikes home. A mid-air explosion marks a successful interception.

That's how Israel's missile defense system is supposed to work, and the country claims that its web of Iron Dome batteries repels 90 percent of Hamas rocket attacks. But at $100,000 a pop, missile interception isn't cheap. And that's why Israel is investigating lasers. Last week Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd, the company behind the Iron Dome, unveiled its new Iron Beam system, a less expensive and more versatile laser-based addition to Israel's defensive arsenal. The Iron Beam, which could be deployed as early as 2015, will reportedly vaporize short-range rockets, mortars, and even drones using high-kilowatt lasers.

"It's exactly like what you see in Star Wars," Amit Zimmer, a company spokesperson, told the Associated Press. "You see the lasers go up so quickly, like a flash, and the target is finished."

The Iron Beam represents a fifth layer in Israel's comprehensive missile defense system, which is in various stages of completion. Once assembled, the Iron Dome and Iron Beam will work in tandem to stave off short-range and very short-range attacks, respectively, while the David's Sling will take on medium-range rockets and the Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 systems will deflect long-range ballistic missiles. Company officials predict that the Iron Beam's lasers will reduce collateral damage on impact and catch close-range rockets that the Iron Dome might have missed.

The United States is working on this kind of laser tech, too. The Army recently announced its High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator (HEL MD), which includes lasers that can zap football-sized mortars out of the sky. And while the HEL MD could be a decade away from deployment, the U.S. Navy is already outfitting ships with its Laser Weapon System (LAWS), a laser cannon that can bore a hole through steel and costs only about $1 to fire.

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems says that the Iron Beam took five years to develop. The Iron Beam is expected to enter service within two to three years, but the company is still working on increasing the laser's power from tens of kilowatts to hundreds, and garnering funds from the Israeli Ministry of Defense.

Over 100 test launches have already seen drones and artillery shells blasted out of the sky by an Iron Beam prototype, but just how accurate and how destructive the laser can be remains to be tested on the battlefield.

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