July 27, 2025: Red Sea combat lessons learning occurred during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. Israel used an experimental laser defense system called Iron Beam against the terrorists' drones. Meanwhile the U.S. Navy needed a cheaper way to shoot down hostile drones. Currently the navy is using 2.1 million dollar missiles to knock down drones costing a few thousand dollars each. American naval weapons development officials are considering the adoption of the Israeli Iron Beam system for use aboard American warships. How soon it will turn into Iron Beam systems installed on American warships is unknown.

Laser systems like Iron Beam were in development elsewhere for a long time, and until Iron Beam no one was able to develop a laser with the range and destructive power to perform like the new Israeli system. This new weapon was already being called Laser Dome until it was decided that calling it Iron Beam was more appropriate. Iron Beam complemented the existing Iron Dome system using missiles and an innovative radar/software system that ignores ballistic, rockets or mortar shells whose trajectory would mean hitting unoccupied land where there will be no injuries or serious damage. Most objects fired at Israel end up landing in unoccupied areas and the few objects that are dangerous are intercepted by missiles. This has proved very effective.

Iron Beam complemented by quickly eliminating drones within a few kilometers while Laser Dome used a solid-state electric laser out to more than 5,000 meters. This costs several dollars’ worth of electricity per shot. A diesel generator capacitor system could fire once every few seconds for as long as power was available. Laser Dome combines multiple laser beams to obtain a useful amount of laser power at longer ranges. Fire control systems for quickly, accurately and repeatedly aiming a laser have already been developed.

The U.S. Navy system installed their version of Iron Beam on some of their warships. In 2013 the navy announced that it had developed a laser technology capable of being useful in combat. This was not a sudden development but has been going on for most of the previous decade. In 2010 the navy successfully tested this new laser weapon, which is actually six solid-state lasers acting in unison, to destroy a small drone. That was the seventh time the navy laser had destroyed a drone. But the Laser Weapon System/LaWS was not yet powerful enough to do this at the range, and power level, required to cripple the most dangerous targets, missiles and small boats. The manufacturer convinced the navy that it was just a matter of tweaking the technology to get the needed effectiveness. In 2013 another test was run, under more realistic conditions. LaWS worked, knocking down a larger drone at a longer range. At that point, the navy said it planned to install the system. That had not happened when the two American destroyers used hundreds of five inch shells and dozens of very expensive anti-aircraft missiles against Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Houthis were firing on and damaging ships moving through the Red Sea towards the Suez Canal.