Israel Upgrades LAHAT Alpha Anti-Tank Missile With 20 km Range for GPS-Denied Warfare.

Israel Aerospace Industries unveiled LAHAT Alpha on October 21, 2025, a roughly 2 m, 25 kg laser-homing anti-tank missile with a stated range up to 20 km and dual warhead options. The weapon targets forces operating under GPS denial by using semi-active laser guidance.

Israel Aerospace Industries announced on October 21, 2025, the unveiling of LAHAT Alpha, a next-generation laser-homing anti-tank missile designed to push precision engagements far beyond line of sight to 20 kilometers. The unveiling positions Alpha as the long-range successor to the combat-proven LAHAT family while keeping the core concept of semi-active laser guidance that avoids reliance on satellite navigation. Company materials emphasize a compact, expeditionary package aimed at land, air, and naval launch platforms and a price point pitched for volume procurement.
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IAI LAHAT Alpha is a 20 km laser-guided anti-tank missile, ~25 kg, dual warheads, jam-resistant precision from land, air, or sea against armor and moving targets (Picture source: IAI).

LAHAT Alpha stretches to roughly 2 meters in length and weighs about 25 kilograms, a form factor that enables dismounted teams or vehicle crews to carry meaningful standoff firepower without a heavy logistics burden. IAI lists dual warhead options, either a dedicated anti-tank shaped charge for armored targets or a fragmentation variant for area effects, and packages the system with a launcher, a command and control unit, and an off-board or organic laser designator. The company also flags immunity to GPS jamming and a training syllabus measured in days, not months, both clear nods to the realities of today’s electronic warfare environment and compressed force-generation timelines.

Range and role are where Alpha departs most visibly from its predecessor. The original LAHAT marketed a 10-kilometer reach and sub-meter precision from air, land, or sea launchers, a combination that found export interest but left a gap against modern sensor-shooter networks. Doubling that reach to 20 kilometers gives platoon- to brigade-level commanders an organic precision option they can fire from cover while working with forward observers, drones, or manned aircraft to lase the aimpoint. In effect, Alpha turns any platform with a designator and line of sight into a spotter for standoff fires, without tying the kill chain to vulnerable GPS signals.

The missile is built for shoot-and-scoot tactics and denied terrain. IAI highlights employment against tank hull-downs, hardened firing points, and structures, as well as littoral and maritime threats where a small, accurate missile can slip past clutter and strike exposed systems on fast craft. The company also calls out engagement of fast-moving targets, a function of staying on the laser energy rather than navigating to pre-programmed coordinates, and suggests Alpha is equally at home on a ground launcher, a helicopter pylon, a small ship’s pedestal, or a light tactical vehicle. For units fighting under persistent electronic attack, a SAL weapon that rides reflected laser energy rather than a jammed satellite solution is a pragmatic hedge.

NATO and partner militaries are pouring resources into longer-range, cross-domain precision weapons, and combat in Ukraine and the Middle East has underscored how pervasive GPS jamming and spoofing have become. In its recent analysis, CSIS catalogued widespread interference in Ukraine, Israel, and along Russia’s borders, reinforcing the appeal of guidance solutions less vulnerable to space-based disruption. With allies raising defense outlays and shifting procurement toward munitions that close sensor-to-shooter loops quickly, Alpha’s blend of cost control, platform flexibility, and electronic protection lands in an expanding market. Early interests are expected from forces seeking to extend anti-armor ambushes into deep strike, bolster coastal denial with precise but lightweight rounds, and arm UAV-enabled reconnaissance units with a lethal reach that keeps launch crews hidden.