For Israel, the best defense is always a good offense
Skeptics ridiculed Reagan when he proposed to a nationwide television audience in March 1983 that the US develop a space-based laser system to shoot down incoming enemy missiles. His critics dubbed it “Star Wars,” calling it just another one of Reagan’s Cold War military fantasies aimed at intimidating the Soviet Union.
Later this month, Israel will turn Reagan’s “fantasy” into reality when the IDF deploys its new portable laser system, the Iron Beam, a portable device that resembles the equipment your ophthalmologist uses to check your eyes. Iron Beam uses precision-guided lasers to deflect multiple threats at once, shooting down swarms of drones, rockets, and even cruise missiles, destroying them before they strike their intended targets.
Rafael, one of Israel’s top defense companies, developed Iron Beam along with Elbit, another major Israeli defense contractor. The deployment of Iron Beam after decades of research is good news for Israelis, still traumatized by running for shelter at all times of day and night, during the course of more than 30,000 aerial attacks over the past two years.
According to Rafael’s product prospectus, its Iron Beam “can operate as a stand-alone unit, be integrated with a variety of platforms, or become part of a multilayered air defense system.”
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