Ran Tavor, vice president and head of naval warfare systems at Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, said global interest is rising in the company’s multi-layered naval defense platforms, such as the Iron Dome and Iron Beam.
The executive said the platforms are increasingly drawing the attention of navies from Asia Pacific and Europe. With those regions’ rapidly evolving security threats, “there is a clear demand for precise, combat-proven and readily available solutions,” he added.
The state-owned Israeli company exhibited its product portfolio at the International Maritime Defense Exhibit 2025, which Singapore hosted from May 6 to 8. It is also participating in the Combined Naval Event conference scheduled for May 20 to 22 in Farnborough, the United Kingdom.
Operational Israeli C-DOME
Tavor told Defense News that Rafael’s naval Iron Dome system, known as C-DOME, is now functional in Israel and has already countered various aerial threats, such as rockets and drones. He noted that C-DOME features “more maturity” with its modular configurations, enabling Rafael to equip vessels rapidly for short-term delivery to customers.
Rafael also anticipates that its Iron Beam laser weapon will be operational by the end of 2025. Global customers are looking at the Iron Beam’s potential as a directed energy weapon working effectively just like the shorter-range Iron Dome but at a much lower cost, the company said.
In October, Israel’s Ministry of Defense signed a $530 million contract with Rafael and Elbit Systems to accelerate Iron Dome’s development.
According to Tavor, demand growth is also notable for Rafael’s Typhoon family of weapon systems, Spike ER and NLOS electro-optically guided multipurpose missiles, which will be incorporated onto unmanned surface vessels. The thinking now is that big ships do not need to strike back at other large vessels and that lethality can be delivered through “many small vessels running fast or in limited (shallow) water,” he said.