Israel’s New Laser Weapons Are Poised to Revolutionize Warfare

In July of last year, an explosive-laden Hizballah drone—the same Iranian-made Shahed model Russia is using in Ukraine—killed an Israeli reservist in Kibbutz Kabri. The drone was one of several Hizballah launched simultaneously in an attack on the Western Galilee; some, though not all, were shot down. But the IDF was working hard to come up with better defenses against unmanned aerial vehicles, and in May 2025 it announced that it had been using prototypes of smaller versions of the new weapon known as the Iron Beam, which had already downed some 40 Hizballah drones. Over the summer, this device, which uses lasers against airborne projectiles, underwent five weeks of extensive testing, and the Defense Ministry announced on Monday that it expects delivery of the fully operational system by the end of December.