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Israeli Anti-Missile Laser System ‘Iron Beam’ Ready for Military Use This Year

An Israeli military armored vehicle moves along the border fence with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, on September 17, 2025. (AFP)
An Israeli military armored vehicle moves along the border fence with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, on September 17, 2025. (AFP)
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Israeli Anti-Missile Laser System ‘Iron Beam’ Ready for Military Use This Year

An Israeli military armored vehicle moves along the border fence with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, on September 17, 2025. (AFP)
An Israeli military armored vehicle moves along the border fence with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, on September 17, 2025. (AFP)

A low-cost, high-power laser-based system aimed at destroying incoming missiles has successfully completed testing and will be ready for operational use by the military later this year, Israel's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

Co-developed by Elbit Systems and Rafael Advance Defense Systems, "Iron Beam" will complement Israel's Iron Dome, David's Sling and Arrow anti-missile systems, which have been used to intercept thousands of rockets fired by Hamas in Gaza, by Hezbollah from Lebanon and by the Houthis in Yemen.

Current rocket interceptors cost at least $50,000 each while the cost is negligible for lasers, which focus primarily on smaller missiles and drones.

"Now that the Iron Beam’s performance has been proven, we anticipate a significant leap in air defense capabilities through the deployment of these long-range laser weapon systems," the ministry said.

After years in development, the ministry said it tested Iron Beam for several weeks in southern Israel and proved its effectiveness in a "complete operational configuration by intercepting rockets, mortars, aircraft, and UAVs across a comprehensive range of operational scenarios".

The first systems are set to be integrated into the military's air defenses by year-end, it said.

Shorter-range and less powerful laser systems are already in use.

Iron Beam is a ground-based, high-power laser air defense system designed to counter aerial threats, including rockets, mortars and UAVs.

"This is the first time in the world that a high-power laser interception system has reached full operational maturity," said defense ministry Director-General Amir Baram.

Rafael Chairman Yuval Steinitz said that Iron Beam, which is built with the company's adaptive optics technology, "will undoubtedly be a game-changing system with unprecedented impact on modern warfare".

For its part, Elbit was working on the development of high-power lasers for other military applications, "first and foremost an airborne laser that holds the potential for a strategic change in air defense capabilities," CEO Bezhalel Machlis said.

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World

Iran Warns US Troops, Israel Will Be Targets if America Strikes

FILE PHOTO: Protesters gather as vehicles burn, amid evolving anti-government unrest, in Tehran, Iran, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released on January 9, 2026. Social Media/via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Protesters gather as vehicles burn, amid evolving anti-government unrest, in Tehran, Iran, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released on January 9, 2026. Social Media/via REUTERS/File Photo
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Iran Warns US Troops, Israel Will Be Targets if America Strikes

FILE PHOTO: Protesters gather as vehicles burn, amid evolving anti-government unrest, in Tehran, Iran, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released on January 9, 2026. Social Media/via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Protesters gather as vehicles burn, amid evolving anti-government unrest, in Tehran, Iran, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released on January 9, 2026. Social Media/via REUTERS/File Photo

Nationwide protests challenging Iran’s regime saw protesters flood the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city into Sunday, crossing the two-week mark as violence surrounding the demonstrations has killed at least 116 people, activists said.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. But the death toll in the protests has grown, while 2,600 others have been detained, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

Meanwhile, Iran's parliament speaker warned the US military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America strikes Iran, as threatened by President Donald Trump.

Trump offered support for the protesters, saying on social media that “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”

The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous US officials, said on Saturday night that Trump had been given military options for a strike on Iran, but hadn’t made a final decision.

The State Department separately warned: “Do not play games with President Trump. When he says he’ll do something, he means it.”

Iranian state television broadcast the parliament session live. Qalibaf gave a speech applauding police and Iran's Revolutionary Guard, particularly its all-volunteer Basij, for having “stood firm” during the protests.

“The people of Iran should know that we will deal with them in the most severe way and punish those who are arrested,” Qalibaf said.

He went on to directly threaten Israel, “the occupied territory” as he referred to it, and the US military, possibly with a preemptive strike.

“In the event of an attack on Iran, both the occupied territory and all American military centers, bases and ships in the region will be our legitimate targets,” Qalibaf said. “We do not consider ourselves limited to reacting after the action and will act based on any objective signs of a threat.”

World

Sources: Israel on High Alert for Possibility of US Intervention in Iran

In this frame grab from video taken by an individual not employed by The Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran shows people during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from video taken by an individual not employed by The Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran shows people during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
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Sources: Israel on High Alert for Possibility of US Intervention in Iran

In this frame grab from video taken by an individual not employed by The Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran shows people during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from video taken by an individual not employed by The Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran shows people during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

Israel is on high alert for the possibility of any US intervention in Iran as authorities there confront the biggest anti-government protests in years, according to three Israeli sources with knowledge of the matter.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene ⁠in recent days and warned Iran’s rulers against using force against demonstrators. On Saturday, Trump said the US stands “ready to help”.

The sources, who were present ⁠for Israeli security consultations over the weekend, did not elaborate on what Israel’s high-alert footing meant in practice, Reuters reported. Israel and Iran fought a 12-day war in June.

In a phone call on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary ⁠of State Marco Rubio discussed the possibility of US intervention in Iran, according to an Israeli source who was present for the conversation. A US official confirmed the two men spoke but did not say what topics they discussed.

World

NKorea Says Another SKorean Drone Entered its Airspace

These images taken on January 4, 2026 and released as a combo image by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on January 10, 2026 shows an aerial view of Kaesong city, which North Korea claims is footage taken retrieved from a drone from South Korea that violated North Korean airspace and brought down by specialized electronic warfare assets. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
These images taken on January 4, 2026 and released as a combo image by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on January 10, 2026 shows an aerial view of Kaesong city, which North Korea claims is footage taken retrieved from a drone from South Korea that violated North Korean airspace and brought down by specialized electronic warfare assets. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
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NKorea Says Another SKorean Drone Entered its Airspace

These images taken on January 4, 2026 and released as a combo image by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on January 10, 2026 shows an aerial view of Kaesong city, which North Korea claims is footage taken retrieved from a drone from South Korea that violated North Korean airspace and brought down by specialized electronic warfare assets. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
These images taken on January 4, 2026 and released as a combo image by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on January 10, 2026 shows an aerial view of Kaesong city, which North Korea claims is footage taken retrieved from a drone from South Korea that violated North Korean airspace and brought down by specialized electronic warfare assets. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)

North Korea said on Saturday that South Korea flew another drone into its airspace on January 4, infringing on its sovereignty, according to state media KCNA.

The announcement, which comes before North Korea holds a key party congress that will lay out policies for the next five years, sets the stage for cementing leader Kim Jong Un's rhetoric that South Korea is a foreign and hostile nation, an analyst said.

The drone, which originated from an island in the South Korean city of Incheon, flew 8 km (5 miles) before it was shot down inside North Korean airspace, KCNA said, citing a spokesperson for the North Korean military.

The drone was equipped with surveillance cameras to record "major" North Korean facilities, ⁠Reuters quoted KCNA as saying. Photos on KCNA showed a drone salvaged in pieces, electronic parts and aerial photos of buildings that KCNA said the drone had taken.

KCNA said the incident follows a September incursion by another South Korean drone that was shot over Kaesong.

"Even after the change of a regime... (South Korea) has continued to commit such acts of provocation by drones near the border," KCNA said, calling South Korea its "enemy most hostile".

Since South Korean President Lee Jae Myung took office in June, North Korea has rebuffed conciliatory gestures from Lee's administration. Lee had ⁠pledged to re-engage with Pyongyang to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea's military said on Saturday it does not operate the drone model in question, it did not operate drones on the date North Korea is claiming, and it will conduct a thorough investigation of a civilian possibly having operated the drone.

"We have no intention of provoking North Korea, and we will continue to take practical measures and efforts to ease... tensions and build trust," South Korea's military said in a statement.

The drone and electronics parts shown by North Korean state media are low-cost consumer products, and the captured video it revealed is of areas that do not have particular information value or military targets, said North Korean expert Hong Min at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

"The South Korean military already has a ⁠number of high-value assets that can clearly monitor the area near the armistice line," Hong said, making it unlikely that it was the South Korean military.

The timing of North Korea's mention of the drones is notable, as it comes just before North Korea's 9th Party Congress expected to be held soon.

Kim Jong Un's rhetoric of deeming the relationship between the two Koreas as two hostile countries, first introduced in 2024, is expected to be cemented further at the congress and may be put into North Korea's constitution this year, Hong said.

North Korea previously accused South Korea of sending a drone over Pyongyang in October 2024.

South Korea's former President Yoon Suk Yeol was accused by Seoul's special prosecutor late last year of ordering the Pyongyang drone operation to use military tensions between Pyongyang and Seoul as a justification for declaring emergency martial law.

Yoon has denied the charge, with his legal counsel saying the performance of the president's duties cannot be framed as a crime after the fact.