March, 2024- Hamas launches a massive bombardment against Israel. It's learned
from its past efforts, and knows that Israel's Iron Dome is one of the most
formidable air defense systems in the world. But each Iron Dome launcher only has 20 interceptors,
and two interceptors are almost always used per incoming rocket. Hamas' plan is simple:
overwhelm Israel's Iron Dome system through sheer numbers.
Hamas' rockets are relatively cheap, costing only a few thousand dollars to produce. Many of
them are now even precision guided, allowing them to hit very specific targets such as hospitals,
police stations, or power plants. By comparison, each Iron Dome interceptor costs approximately
$50,000 to produce, so Israel is spending approximately $100,000 to intercept a
three to six thousand dollar rocket. With the economic advantage firmly in Israel's favor,
Hamas has amassed a massive quantity of both guided and unguided rockets, as well as drones,
levelling the advantage Israel has amassed due to their superior economy. They will launch one
massive attack to cause massive destruction. On cue, hundreds of rockets take flight. A few
seconds later hundreds more. Soon there's nearly a thousand rockets screaming towards Israel. Behind
them are several drone swarms made up of cheap, off-the-shelf drones. Each one is armed with
incendiary munitions which just have to get close to Israeli buildings and create city-wide blazes.
Immediately upon launch, Israel's long-range threat detection and identification radar picks
up the tell-tale signature of high velocity rockets. The air defense network automatically
assigns rockets to the Iron Dome defense units best suited for shooting them down. Moments after
the second salvo is in the air, the first volley of interceptors is also in the air. The largely
homemade Hamas rockets weave erratic patterns in the sky, but it matters little to the Iron
Dome's electronically scanned array radar. Every battery connected to the Iron Dome’s
system has a radar that guides interceptors to their target, after which a proximity fuze sets
the warhead off and shreds the incoming rocket. But with two interceptors per incoming rocket,
it's quickly becoming apparent that there's just not enough. And that's
when the massive drone swarms are spotted lifting off from Hamas-controlled territory,
en route to Israel. The Iron Dome defense system is completely overwhelmed.
The first interceptions take place at the edge of the Iron Dome's range- 43 miles (70 km). Yet
despite a high intercept rate of around 90%, a large number of rockets are getting through.
There's simply too many of them. Hamas operatives observing the attack from both within and outside
Israeli territory rub their hands in glee as their rockets near their impact points.
Then suddenly, the sky is full of explosions with no apparent cause. Hamas rockets are either
exploding in mid-air or spinning wildly out of control and ripping themselves apart. The incoming
swarms have had a path cleared for them due to the exhaustion of Iron Dome interceptors, but they too
begin to fall out of the sky in huge swathes. Many rockets and drones find their targets,
but the majority do not. The secret weapon that saves Israel today is the Iron Beam, one of the
most capable air defense lasers in the world. During the 1990s Israel was under constant
rocket attack from Hezbolla, which was based inside Lebanon. While military operations
to neutralize Hezbolla were undertaken, Israeli civilians were still vulnerable to rocket attack.
In 2004 Israel began development of a defensive system that would change the status quo, and
help keep its civilians safe from rocket attack. In 2004 though the Iron Dome system was seen as a
pipe dream. It was an incredibly ambitious project which even the US believed Israel
wasn't capable of producing. Many politicians inside Israel itself felt it was a boondoggle,
and efforts to develop it were met with strong internal opposition. Brigadier General Daniel
Gold however fought for the system as the head of research and development for the
Israel Defense Forces, and helped secure funding by changing the minds of important politicians.
In 2006 the second Lebanon War kicked off, and approximately
4,000 rockets were fired into northern Israel. 44 civilians were killed and 250,000
had to evacuate while up to a million lived inside bomb shelters. In the south, Hamas fired over
8,000 rockets or mortars into Israel from the Gaza strip between 2000 and 2008. Both events
helped spur funding for the experimental Iron Dome system, but the decision was made official in 2007
when Defense Minister Amir Peretz selected the Iron Dome as Israel's official defense against
the short-range rocket and mortar threat. The system consists of three major components.
The first is the electronically scanned array radar, which operates much faster
and is much more capable than traditional mechanically scanning radar. The system is so
advanced that it’s capable of identifying exactly the type of target that it's looking at, able to
tell the difference between a small or large rocket, or even an artillery or mortar shell.
Next is the brains of the operation, the battle management and weapon control center,
known as the BMC. This electronic brain is hooked directly into the both the radar and the missiles,
and communicates with missiles while they're on flight to guide them to their target using radar
data. The BMC is smart enough to plot courses of incoming rockets and compare those with population
maps of Israeli territory, thus only firing interceptors at targets that it knows will land
in populated or important locations. Those that head towards unpopulated areas are simply ignored,
saving precious interceptors for real threats. The missile firing unit houses the Tamir
interceptor missile, with a capability of firing twenty interceptors at a time. Each
Tamir is equipped with electro-optical sensors and steering fins, which help it process data from the
BMC and helps it guide itself to targets in case of communications interruption.
In 2011, the Iron Dome became officially operational, and was immediately put to
use intercepting attacks on Israeli population centers. The system proved a real game changer,
and suddenly about 90% of rocket and mortar attacks were being intercepted- pending
availability of interceptors. The Iron Dome was so successful in fact that it immediately
prompted the United States to provide $1.6 billion in funding for both procurement of the system and
interceptors both, seeing the Iron Dome as vital to the safety of Israeli civilians. In 2022,
US Congress approved a further $1 billion in ongoing funding for the Iron Dome, and since 2011
almost every interceptor keeping Israel safe has been bought and paid for by the United States.
In exchange for funding, the US and Israel have engaged in ongoing development of the system,
sharing key technologies with each other. Israeli defense firm Rafael and American
contractor Raytheon both build the Tamir interceptor jointly, and parts of the Iron
Dome's technology has made its way into America's Multi-Mission Launcher, tasked
with protecting US troops and interests from the same threats the Iron Dome protects Israel from.
Soon Israel was looking at ways of protecting its offshore gas platforms and naval ships
from the same threats it faced on land. In October, 2014 the naval version of the Iron
Dome- the C-Dome- was unveiled. Initially it was slated to be installed on larger vessels
such as corvettes or destroyers, however soon the technology was streamlined enough to fit
onto even smaller patrol boats. Featuring a ten round launcher that can intercept targets in 360
degrees- a capability the land-based version lacks- the C-Dome successfully intercepted
a missile attack on an Israeli ship in 2016. By November 27th of 2017, the C-Dome was declared to
have reached initial operational capability, formally inducting it into Israel's navy.
During the mid 2010s it became clear that rockets and mortars weren't the only future threats Israel
would face. Drones were now of serious concern, but Israel only had one anti-drone weapon in its
arsenal: the US made Patriot missile defense system. A formidable air defense weapon,
Patriot missiles are staggeringly expensive, as much as $3 million per missile. The Iron Dome
however provided a much cheaper option for intercepting drones, with a cost reduction
of as much as 95% per shot. However, compared to the Patriot missile system, the Iron Dome has a
fraction the range- the Patriot system can engage targets up to 100 miles away (160 km), while
the Iron Dome can only hit targets at half that distance: 43 miles (70 km). The Patriot
can also hit incoming ballistic missiles while the Iron Dome lacks the capability.
In the end, the Iron Dome isn't designed to replace the Patriot system,
but rather supplement it and free up the big Patriot batteries for defending against
larger long-distance threat such as enemy helicopters, bombers, and cruise missiles.
The Iron Dome is effective, and has proven its worth countless times despite some
initial skepticism. In action, it has saved the lives of hundreds of Israeli civilians,
and prevented untold millions in property and economic damage to Israel.
But is the Iron Dome actually causing as much economic harm as it's preventing?
A lot of details about the system are kept under wraps, but it's known that interceptors
for the system can cost between $20,000 and $50,000 each. With two interceptors assigned
per target, it costs Israel- or largely the US- $100,000 to shoot down a rocket
that might only cost a few hundred dollars to make. That puts Hamas and Hezbolla firmly in
the lead when it comes to economic warfare. This price tag has been criticized by many who
apparently want to go back to the old days of having high explosives raining down on their
heads- though we suspect the criticism largely comes from areas not threatened
by terrorist rockets. Still, the criticism does have a valid point- at this rate Israel
is losing the economic war, and already the US is showing exhaustion at continuing to provide
such large amounts of funding for the system. This is where the future of Israeli air defense
comes in. Known as the Iron Beam, this is not a laser you want to be shining at people's eyes-
because it would burn their head clean off. The fiber optic laser works by focusing laser light
onto a small point on an incoming target and thus either cooking off the explosives in the warhead
or causing enough structural damage to make the incoming rocket tear itself apart in the air.
The system has already been in testing since 2016, though details remain highly classified.
Despite this, it's believed that the system has a range of 4.3 miles (7 km) and a wattage
of up to 150 kilowatts, making it one of the most powerful combat lasers in the world. Upon target
acquisition, the Iron Beam can destroy a target in up to four seconds, and unlike a rocket or
missile, it attacks at the speed of light. This means that the Iron Beam can intercept
multiple targets in rapid succession, giving a battery of Iron Beam units greater killing
power than an equivalent Iron Dome battery. Yet lasers are notoriously affected by inclement
weather conditions, while the Iron Dome is an all-weather air defense system. And with the very
short range of just over 4 miles, it means that the Iron Beam can probably be defeated by weapons
carrying submunitions designed to separate just outside of the engagement envelope.
This means that the Iron Beam will not be replacing the Iron Dome any time soon,
and will instead operate as a point defense weapon for the time being. However,
as advancements in laser technology are made, the range is expected to increase,
as is its ability to operate in inclement weather. Plus, the weapon has an advantage that
the Iron Dome doesn't have- it can be mounted on aircraft. So fixing the range issue may be
as simple as mounting several long-duration and high flying drones with Iron Beam units,
whose sole job is to patrol the sky near a suspected or known launch point. Israel has
even said in the future it could mount the Iron Beam system on satellites, though that would
be extremely unlikely as it would have global repercussions due to the weaponizing of space.
The greatest appeal to the ongoing development of the Iron Beam however is the cost of interception,
estimated on the high end at an incredible $3 a shot. This beats the pants off the Iron
Dome's costly Tamir interceptors, and the system has sparked great interest in the US which is
itself building similar laser defense weapons. Now go check out Could US Defend From Nuclear
Attack? Or click this other video instead before our space lasers fry your computer.