The Defense Ministry announced on Monday that it had conducted a joint drill in which the Iron Beam laser defense and the Iron Dome interceptor-based defense systems were used together to combat a multi-threat scenario.
A statement by the ministry, in addition to a video distributed showing the two systems fighting off aerial threats, appeared to focus mostly on drones. However, the ministry also noted the IDF’s ability to shoot down rockets and cruise missiles.
Israeli Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) head Moshe Patel also mentioned that the Iron Dome can shoot down missiles, though the Arrow 3 defense system is mainly responsible for the ballistic missile threat.
Patel emphasized the importance of coordinating the defensive capabilities of the Iron Beam and Iron Dome to maximize their joint capabilities.
In mid-2025, the ministry revealed that Iron Beam had shot down around 40 Hezbollah drones as early as the fall of 2024.
Then, in December 2025, the ministry and the IDF declared the Iron Beam to be fully operational.
However, numerous top IDF officials then told The Jerusalem Post that it was not used during Operation Roaring Lion because not enough batteries had yet been produced for it to be widely effective.
Iron Beam soon to combat the ballistic missile threat
In addition, it is a matter of public record that the main threat Iran posed to Israel in early 2026 came from its ballistic missiles.
During a recent visit by the Post to Elbit’s facility that produces the laser which Rafael uses for its Iron Beam system, officials made it clear that the initial focus is shooting down regular drones, but that someday shooting down ballistic missiles – the greatest conventional threat Israel faces – may not be out of the question.
Little known or remembered by most of the public now, the US had an air-based laser defense program specifically for shooting down ballistic missiles and cruise missiles active on and off from the 1980s until 2011.
In 2011, the Airborne Laser anti-ballistic missile system (ABL), developed by Boeing, was canceled due to its perceived impracticality in terms of deployment and cost.
As a top US defense official explained, to use that particular laser, at the time, a US aircraft would have to already be flying and hovering in enemy airspace (not realistic unless a massive operation has actually occurred to remove enemy air defense threats) and would need to be deployed on 10 to 20 747 jets at around $1.5 billion per system-jet.
However, in the 15 years that have passed, technology and engineering worldwide have undergone a variety of game-changing evolutions, such that Elbit’s solution, if and when it works, could conceivably function from a longer and more useful distance and at a more affordable (though not cheap) cost.
Calculating the cost of Israel’s modern defense
Just as importantly, Israel is making a different cost comparison.
In 2011, the US was preparing for a theoretical ballistic missile attack, which might involve only a small number of missiles.
Israel in 2026 has had over 1,500 actual ballistic missiles fired at it and has had to use countless Arrow interceptors, each at a cost of $2 to $3 million, to shoot them down.
This means that any cost to Israel will be compared to that equation and not to a scenario of potentially zero cost.
Patel also alluded to dealing with new scenarios that arose during the recent Iran war.
One of the new large problems Israel is dealing with is cluster munitions dropping out of Iranian ballistic missiles.
Israel was unprepared for this threat in early 2026, and Monday’s announced drill, as well as future drills, will doubtlessly be working on better combating that threat.
Rafael CEO Yoav Tourgeman also emphasized both the importance of successfully using the Iron Beam and Iron Dome systems together and the longstanding record of Iron Dome versus short-range threats.