Israel’s Iron Beam laser system sits idle despite war: “Appropriate, professional steps are being taken”
Rafael CEO defends rollout of Iron Beam as company backlog reaches historic highs.
Rafael’s long-awaited laser-based air defense system “Iron Beam” has not yet been activated in operational use, despite being delivered to the Air Force six months ago and arriving at a moment of ongoing and frequent aerial threats.
“The Air Force is writing procedures, training people and building the necessary capabilities to introduce the new system into operational activity,” Rafael CEO Yoav Turgeman said in a conversation with Calcalist on Thursday. “The Air Force is taking appropriate, professional and correct steps on this issue.”
The system, intended to intercept rockets, mortars, drones and UAVs at a significantly lower cost than traditional missile-based interceptors, is still undergoing integration into operational doctrine. Its absence from active deployment comes even as Israel continues to face repeated UAV attacks and rocket fire in the northern border.
Turgeman added that Rafael and the Ministry of Defense are also working on future interception systems to address threats that currently lack a full defensive response. “I hope that in the coming months we will have good news on this issue. We are working in parallel to develop solutions and surprises for the next rounds of combat, while investing heavily in research and development.”
The comments came alongside Rafael’s first-quarter financial results, which show continued growth across revenue, profitability and orders, even as the company calls for policy intervention to address currency pressures.
“The ongoing decline in the dollar exchange rate is eroding the competitiveness of Israeli industries abroad and harming them,” Turgeman said. “We are calling on the Bank of Israel and the Ministry of Finance to intervene. The current situation is a severe blow for us.”
Rafael reported quarterly sales of 5 billion shekels, up 7% year-on-year, while net profit rose 23% to 334 million shekels. New orders reached 8.2 billion shekels, an increase of 28% compared to the first quarter of 2025, bringing the company’s order backlog to a record 76.4 billion shekels (approximately $27 billion).
That backlog places Rafael close to its peers in Israel’s defense sector. Elbit Systems reported $30.2 billion, while Israel Aerospace Industries reported $32.8 billion. Combined, the three companies now hold roughly $90 billion in outstanding orders.
Rafael Chairman Yuval Steinitz said the company’s performance was achieved despite extensive reserve duty mobilization following Operation “Rising Lion.” He added that growing global competition and market complexity strengthen the case for an initial public offering.
According to Turgeman, “The market is becoming faster and more agile, and the IPO is an essential need for Rafael. It will improve access to capital. We hope that the Ministerial Committee will soon approve the move.”
Rafael develops the Iron Dome and David’s Sling systems, which form the backbone of Israel’s missile defense network. Alongside these systems, the company is expanding into next-generation interception technologies, including laser-based defense.
In the first quarter, 63% of Rafael’s sales came from overseas markets. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense’s debt to the company approached 7 billion shekels. Rafael is the largest creditor among Israeli defense firms, ahead of Israel Aerospace Industries (around 4 billion shekels) and Elbit Systems (around 3 billion shekels). The dispute stems from broader disagreements between the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Finance over the defense budget.
Meanwhile, Israel Aerospace Industries Chairman Boaz Levy said at a conference in Tel Aviv that production capacity across the defense sector is expanding rapidly in response to unprecedented global demand.
“Our production lines are being renewed, refined and progressing in giant strides towards a ‘smart factory’ model,” he said. “We are implementing advanced robotics systems, automatic laser-guided assembly lines, and quality control systems based on computer vision and machine learning, which identify tiny defects at the earliest stages of production. The digitization of the production lines allows us to increase production capacity by tens of percent.”
