Introduction
The Israel-Palestine conflict has been an ongoing matter of concern since the Balfour Declaration of 1917 – Israel being at a geographical disadvantage virtually from all angles has overcome adversity with innovation. The Jewish state has become a critical player in innovation in Science and Technology. Today, the state is known for several aspects ranging from agrarian innovation to developing arms and ammunition. The country has strived in Research and Development (R&D) and has research pacts signed with several major powers. Israel has, over the years, built a significant array of groundbreaking weapons systems like the ‘Trophy’, equipped on tanks, which is a 360-degree system which neutralizes incoming missile attacks by intercepting the threat. The F-16I ‘Sufa’ is a regular F-16 customized with a state-of-the-art weapons system, a specially constructed radar system, and a unique helmet system that allows the pilot to launch weapons at an enemy plane using only sight. The ‘Tzefa Shirion’, a 394-foot-long chain propelled by a missile when it falls to the ground, explodes mines and allows clearing roads up to 394 feet in length and 19-26 feet wide (IDF, 2022). This web article, however, will focus on the development and deployment of Israel’s anti-missile defence technology developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, i.e., the Iron Dome and its advanced variant, the Iron Beam known officially מגן אור, magen or “Light Shield” and its implications.
The Iron Dome defence system is Israel’s crucial defence mechanism against missile attacks from Palestinian extremists and attacks from Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon. The defence mechanism of the Iron Dome can be categorised into three, the Tamir Interceptor missiles and launcher, the ELM 2084 radar system and the weapon control system. The missiles are high-blast fragmentation warheads that detect and intercept targets up to 70 km (CSIS, 2021). Moreover, in the immediate vicinity of the shelling sites, the Iron Dome can intercept short-range rockets up to 4 km. Each Iron Dome battery has over four launchers. Each launcher has 20 Tamir Interceptors each Iron Dome battery has over 20 missiles in one launch complex. Initially, the estimated cost of one Tamir Missile was USD 90,000. While it is costly, the mechanism has consistently saved lives during endless attacks by militant groups (Boris Lozhkin, 2021).
The Iron Dome’s efficacy was showcased during the conflict of August 2022, when the Islamic Jihad, a militant group harbouring a similar ideology to Hamas governing the Gaza strip, fired more than 1000 rockets into Tel Aviv and other cities. This attack was in retaliation to the air strike conducted by Israel, which resulted in the death of Al-Jaabari, the coordinator between Hamas and Islamic Jihad (Al-Mughrabi, 2022). Even though the barrage was continuous, Israel’s Iron dome missile defence system could fend off 90 per cent of the attacks. Although a powerful anti-defence system, the presently employed Iron Dome has certain drawbacks. Primarily, the cost incurred for its maintenance and subsequent deployment; Secondly, the stock of Tamir missiles used to intercept incoming attacks is finite and expensive. Israel’s former approach to dealing with such threats was a combination of airstrikes with tactical ground forces. The increased threat of fringe groups such as Hamas relying upon rockets has made the Iron Dome a critical functional unit for the Israeli Defense Forces.
Israel has a co-production agreement with the USA, and almost 75 per cent of the Tamir Interceptor components are made in the U.S., and in turn, the U.S. has access to the Iron Dome Technology. In 2010 alone, the U.S. House of Representatives approved USD 205 mn for funding the Iron Dome system, without which maintaining it would have been a substantial financial constraint on Israel.
Iron Beam
The Iron Beam was developed to tackle the cost side and deployment speed of the Iron Dome. A system that relies on the Iron Dome’s precision radar but uses a high-density laser instead of projectiles to cull the incoming threats; it is said to have a precision range of 7Km, although Rafael is yet to have confirmed this. The Iron Beam system, rumoured to be a 100+ kilowatt weapon, was presented at AUSA 2022 (Association of U.S. Army’s national conference), which took place in Washington, D.C. (IsraelDefense, 2022). The system is still under development, but under preliminary testing, the Iron Beam has successfully detected and intercepted drones, missiles and even mortars.
In an interview, Michael Lurie, the CEO of Rafael USA, stated, “It is not a question of if we will do it. It is a question of when, how long it will take”. Implying that even though test and trial runs have been done, a fully-fledged system may take a few years for field deployment. As to whether the device would be exported, Michael Lurie commented that they are in discussion with a U.S firm to market the device to Pentagon. (Mehta, 2022). The rumoured company is said to be Lockheed Martin, which has released a 300kilowatt high-density laser system to the Department of Defense, similar to the Iron Beam, while the company affirms successful testing field deployment would still take time (Plain, 2022).
The financial aspect and Implication for India.
As inferred earlier, the Iron Beam variant is not only faster when compared to the Iron dome; instead, it does not require the constant maintenance that the Iron Dome relies upon. The Iron Beam uses electricity instead of explosive ordinance. The economic advantage Israel would have over its enemies would be huge, as rightly stated by Israel’s 13th prime minister Naftali Bennett in a statement,
“Until today, it would cost us much money to intercept every rocket,” he added. “Today, they can invest tens of thousands of dollars in a rocket, and we can invest two dollars in covering the cost of the electricity in shooting down the rocket.” (Iddon, 2022).
This aspect of the Iron Beam makes it all the more attractive to any nation interested in weapons development. A country with well-established ties like India could take full advantage of this new technology. Investing in laser-based weapons systems is highly plausible when compared to traditional projectiles. Moreover, the latest Bilateral Innovation Agreement and subsequent approval of expanding R&D Innovation worth $5.5 Million between Israel and India are inductive of the same (Ministry of Science & Technology, 2022). The agreement calls for the joint development of dual-use technologies and exporting them to third-world countries (Pandit, 2020). As a rising nation opting for candidature as a permanent member at the UNSC., if India were to achieve a level of sophistication concerning Research & Development of high-density laser-based systems on par with USA and Israel, it would cement our stature as a superpower on par with the P5.
Conclusion
In all prospects, the new Laser based defence system would be a game changer for the Israeli Defense Forces, not to mention that the Iron Beam’s popularity is such that even Ukraine, in an official letter, had requested defence systems from Israel, including the Iron Beam citing the possibility of Iran providing Russia with Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar ballistic missiles. Israel replied that they could not offer the equipment due to operational constraints (TOI, 2022). This instance should alone confirm that even though the Iron Beam model has had successful testing, it is yet still far away from being fully functional; still, the new high-density laser system is no doubt the future; modern defence systems would heavily rely on sophisticated software and high-density laser systems rather than the traditional projectile based systems.
References
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