The bill that President Joe Biden signed into law Wednesday includes funding for Israel to procure a directed energy system called Iron Beam.
According to a summary of the bill provided, the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024 would include “supporting Israel in its efforts to defend itself against Iran and its proxies, and reimbursing U.S. military operations in response to recent attacks. ” The total amount included is $26.4 billion. By Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee.
According to the text of the bill, $1.2 billion of this amount will be provided by the Secretary of Defense to the Israeli government for the acquisition of Iron Beam, and will be transferred based on an exchange of letters.
Following Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the White House requested $14.3 billion from Congress in a security assistance package. According to a letter to Congress from the Office of Management and Budget, $1.2 billion of that money would go toward research, development, testing, and evaluation of Iron Beam.
Notably, the funding provided by lawmakers in the supplement that Biden signed this week would direct $1.2 billion to procuring systems for Israel, not RDT&E. That funding would come from the Pentagon’s defense-wide account.
The 100-kilowatt high-energy laser is designed to defeat a variety of threats, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and attack targets from “hundreds of meters up to several kilometers” away, according to Israeli defense contractor Rafael. It is said that there is He was working on developing weapons.
“Both militaries and populated areas face increasingly sophisticated aerial threats, including mortars, rockets, and swarms of unmanned and small unmanned aircraft. Current Kinetic interceptor systems are expensive, and these is not always sufficient to combat some of the threats in the world, and we need powerful new solutions to meet the needs of this new reality,” the company said on its website.
Officials say the weapon was successfully tested in 2022.
The system is expected to be in the Israeli military by the end of 2025, Rafael executive told Breaking Defense last month.
The $1.2 billion allocated by the U.S. Congress to Iron Beam will be available until September 30, 2026.
Directed energy weapons are considered advantageous for air and missile defense because they have a relatively low cost per shot compared to traditional interceptor weapons and have nearly unlimited magazines. The U.S. military is pursuing a variety of lasers and high-power microwaves to counter drones and other threats.
Doug Bush, the Army’s chief acquisition officer, suggested last fall that the Pentagon might consider acquiring Iron Beam in the future.
He told DefenseScoop during a roundtable with reporters at the Pentagon in November that he was “pleased to see the (Iron Beam) investment” in adding to the original request submitted by the White House. . “I saw this system the last time I went to Israel. I also saw the first prototype.”
He noted that the U.S. military is leading the development of energy systems, including the Indirect Fire Protection Capability High Energy Laser (IFPC-HEL) prototype program, which is overseen by the Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office. .
“The Israeli system is technically a slightly different approach. It’s actually a nice complement, because we’re on a kind of path and they’re on a slightly different path. So I think there’s potential if their stuff works well and we could consider leveraging it for our needs in that area. So that’s the real benefit of the funding… We can explore multiple avenues here and see what works,” Bush said.
The U.S. Navy is also interested in the potential of directed energy weapons to enhance the department’s defense capabilities.
Navy Secretary Carlos del Toro told reporters earlier this year that he is considering increasing investment in DE in future budget submissions.
Vice Adm. Brendan McClain, commander of U.S. Navy Surface Forces, expressed frustration at the failure to equip ships with more directed energy systems that could defeat unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and other threats. .
“I think there’s definitely a focus on counter-UAS, and there is a real focus on it. The Army has been leading on that for a long time. The Navy is focused on this from both a land and ship perspective. And we’re at the wrong end of the cost curve, so we need to do more there,” Adm. James Kilby, vice chief of naval operations, said Wednesday at the Global Security Forum, hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. This was stated in a panel discussion. the study. “Let’s reflect on this and figure out a better way to do this, perhaps in the future with directed energy, electronic warfare, powerful microwaves, etc. I think so.”
Rafael is developing a naval version of Iron Beam. The system was unveiled at the International Maritime Defense Exhibition held in Singapore last year.
The company said in a pre-event release that the weapon is designed to “quickly and effectively attack and neutralize a variety of threats, including short-range ballistic rockets, drones, and unmanned aerial vehicles of various sizes.” said.
By John Harper John Harper is editor-in-chief of Defense Scoop, Scoop News Group’s online publication focused on the Department of Defense and its pursuit of new capabilities. He leads a team of award-winning journalists providing the latest news and in-depth analysis on military technology and how it shapes the way the Department of Defense operates and modernizes. You can also follow him on X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) @Jon_Harper_.
