Israel to deploy Iron Beam within weeks as laser interceptor clears key trials
Rafael reports record quarterly results, a soaring $22 billion backlog, and rapid global expansion as demand surges for its defense technologies.
Rafael is calling the third quarter of 2025 the strongest in its history, reporting a 14.5% rise in sales to NIS 5.19 billion (approximately $1.59 billion) compared to the same period last year. The company’s order backlog jumped from roughly NIS 60 billion (about $18.35 billion) a year earlier to a record-breaking NIS 72 billion (about $22.02 billion) by the end of September.
Profitability rose sharply as well. Net profit climbed 64% year-over-year to NIS 311 million (about $95.11 million) in the quarter. Over the first nine months of 2025, Rafael registered NIS 922 million (about $282.27 million) in net profit, 67% higher than in the same period of 2024. Rafael credited the growth to increasing global demand and substantial procurement from the IDF and the Ministry of Defense.
A central milestone for the company this year is the “Iron Beam” laser interception system, set for delivery to the Air Force by the end of December. Designed to neutralize drones, UAVs, rockets, and mortar shells at the cost of only a few shekels per shot, the system recently completed a series of successful operational tests. Chairman Yuval Steinitz described it as “the first of its kind in the world” and said it is expected “to make the impossible possible.”
CEO Yoav Turgeman said 2025 is on track to become “the most successful year in Rafael’s performance,” noting the hiring of roughly 1,100 new employees across the company’s sites to meet intensifying demand. Earlier this week, Rafael secured a multi-billion-dollar order for new interceptor missiles and inaugurated, together with Raytheon, the first Iron Dome missile manufacturing plant outside Israel, located in the United States.
Rafael’s results follow strong quarterly reports from its two largest competitors. Israel Aerospace Industries reported a 24% rise in quarterly revenue to roughly $2 billion, while Elbit Systems posted a 12% increase to $1.92 billion.
Steinitz attributed Rafael’s momentum to both technological innovation and workforce dedication. “The world has been exposed to the technological superiority Rafael brings to the modern battlefield,” he said, praising employees for delivering “unprecedented business and economic growth.”
Turgeman echoed those remarks, thanking employees for their “professionalism, mobilization and dedication,” which he said enabled the company to support the defense establishment during wartime while sustaining rapid global growth.
