Illustrative image. (Israeli Ministry of Defense)
Israel dispatched a version of the Iron Beam laser-based air defense system to the United Arab Emirates during the war with Iran to help protect the Gulf nation from missile and drone attacks, according to the Financial Times reported on April 30.
The Iron Beam was developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to destroy short-range rockets, artillery, and mortar bombs. In addition, the system could also intercept drones. The base version of the system is reported to have a range up to ten kilometers.
The Financial Times also revealed that Israel sent a surveillance system known as Spectro to help detect Iranian drones from up to 20 kilometers away, with a regional official saying the deployment of the advanced weaponry shows “the value of being Israel’s friend.”
Spectro likely refers to a series of electro-optical systems used for both surveillance and targeting developed by Elbit Systems.
In addition, the report notes that Israel deployed the Iron Dome air defense system to the UAE along with troops to operate it, which was previously revealed by Axios.
It’s worth noting that the Iron Beam was developed to complement the Iron Dome system, which was designed — also by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems — to shoot down short-range rockets, artillery, and mortar bombs launched from a greater distance with interceptors.
“It’s not a small number of boots on the ground,” a person familiar with the matter is quoted as saying, referring to the number of Israeli soldiers in the UAE.
Iran carried out near-daily attacks against the UAE during the war, firing some 550 ballistic and cruise missiles, in addition to more than 2,200 drones, according to the Emirati defense ministry. The attacks caused billions of dollars in economic losses and damage to critical infrastructure.
Israel and the UAE normalized relations with the 2020 Abraham Accords, which later grew to include Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan.
The deployment of Israeli weapons and troops in the UAE will not likely be tolerated by Iran. If the war resumes, the Islamic Republic will likely attack the Gulf nation harder than before.
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the iron beam will stop beaming after being hit by a hypersonic missile.
by an fpv drone
what? no glowing reviews of how wonderful this is? deployed during the war, why did uae sustain damages?
it didn’t do to well in israel.
just saying.
this isreali apartheid regime jalopy very obviously didn’t work too well. much like its ‘iron dome’. ‘the admin of the uae need their heads tested. they connive with an apartheid regime which is genociding arabs elsewhere. there obviously isn’t any honour in the arab world. noone will complain when the apartheid regime turns on its friends because to the isreali apartheid regime, they have no friends…only enemies who they fight with deception and lies.