New And Old Systems Will Reinforce Lowest Tier Of Israel’s Air Defense

Israel recently revived an air defense battalion operating vintage surface-to-air systems it retired over 20 years ago as a solution for countering persistent drone threats. At the same time, it expects to introduce the brand-new Iron Beam laser system into service by the end of this year. Together, these new and old systems will reinforce the lowest tier of Israel’s multilayered air defense, already one of the most sophisticated in the world.

Israel announced the revival of the 946th Air Defense Battalion to “provide a new operational solution… for the threat of UAVs and drones in the northern area” on May 6. Retired from service in 2003, the battalion previously operated the MIM-72 Chaparral self-propelled, short-range air defense system, which fired a ground-launched version of the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile. However, it’s most likely the revived battalion will reintroduce the six-barrel, self-propelled M163 Vulcan anti-aircraft gun.

Reports last year indicated that Israel was exploring the feasibility of mounting Vulcan rotary cannons on armored personnel carriers. Israel operated its own version of the M163, the Machbet, equipped with M168 Vulcan cannons and FIM-92 Stinger missile launch tubes in the 1990s.

During skirmishes with Hezbollah in Lebanon beginning in October 2023, Israel faced repeated drone attacks from its northern border. Its vaunted Iron Dome proved incapable of intercepting or even detecting several of these low-flying drones, which ultimately resulted in fatalities on the Israeli side.

Ukraine, which has come under drone attacks almost daily since late 2022, devised several innovative and cost-effective solutions to defend itself, including a network of heavy truck-mounted machine guns and flak cannons. Before the present Middle East war began in October 2023, Ukraine urged Israel to cooperate on devising anti-drone capabilities and tactics, pointing out that the Russian drones it was fending off were Iranian-built Shahed-136s that would eventually target Israel.

After Israel faced its deadliest Hezbollah drone attack on October 13, 2024, which killed four troops and injured dozens more, Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, brought up Israel’s hesitancy to cooperate with Kyiv against such threats.

“I don’t want to say now, ‘I told you so,’ but I told you so,” he said. “It has long been clear to me that we are fighting the same enemy,” he added. “I can say that after the attack on Israel that happened on October 7, Israel woke up, but there is much more to do.

Reintroducing systems like the Vulcan would help reinforce the lowest tier of Israel’s air defense covered by the Iron Dome by filling the gaps in that system’s capacity to detect and intercept low-flying drones effectively. Furthermore, using cannons rather than the Iron Dome’s Tamir interceptor missiles, which cost tens of thousands of dollars each, is a more cost-effective way of combating such threats.

Older weapons systems, especially with modifications, can often prove effective against modern threats.

Historically, in Israeli service, the Chaparral downed a Syrian MiG-17 during the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war, the system’s first and only combat kill. Just under a decade later, an enhanced Israeli MIM-23 Hawk missile shot down a Syrian MiG-25 purportedly flying Mach 2.5 at 70,000 feet over Lebanon in August 1982. Much more recently, Ukrainian Magura-7 drone boats shot down two Russian Su-30 Flanker fighter jets with AIM-9s on May 2, the first incident of its kind that aptly demonstrated the enormous potential of such systems to destroy more advanced and expensive enemy aircraft.

While the Chaparral and Hawk will not likely ever serve in the armed forces of Israel again, systems like the Vulcan could provide life-saving mobile point defense against drones for troops and armor. Therefore, instead of ‘out with the old and in with the new,’ Israel’s air defense could soon have a healthy mixture of old and new systems to counter a multitude of present and future threats.

The upcoming Iron Beam laser system, scheduled to enter service by the end of 2025, is arguably the most notable new system Israel has introduced since the Iron Dome over a decade ago. As with its combat-tested predecessor, the Iron Beam is designed for intercepting short-range unguided rockets, cruise missiles, and drones. Unlike the Iron Dome, its intercept capacity is theoretically unlimited and costs literal pennies on the dollar compared to the Iron Dome’s expensive and finite Tamir interceptors.

The 100-kilowatt laser will complement rather than replace the Iron Dome by adding another much more cost-effective layer to that lowest tier of Israel’s air defense.

“The combination between laser interception and missile interception will further tighten the defense envelope against rockets, missiles, drones, cruise missiles and other threats,” said Israel’s military research chief, Daniel Gold.

In the near future, threats at the lowest tier of Israel’s air defense could be either met by the venerable Vulcan, the middle-aged Iron Dome, or the futuristic Iron Beam.