ISRAEL has debuted its “Iron Sting” weapons system for the first time as its commandos mount raids inside the Gaza Strip.
Footage shows the dramatic moment the laser and GPS-guided mortar destroyed a Hamas rocket launcher as Israel steps up its aerial assaults on the besieged enclave.
Elbit SystemsIsrael’s ‘Iron Sting’ guides mortar bombs with lasers and GPS to hit targets with 90 per cent accuracy[/caption]
Twitter@IAFsiteThe moment the ‘Iron Sting’ destroys a Hamas rocket launcher inside Gaza[/caption]
On Sunday, Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) released footage of the “Iron Sting” launching its powerful mortar bomb and taking out a Hamas rocket launcher in its first operational use.
The high-tech piece of kit was unveiled in March 2021 – but only saw real combat this weekend.
The “Iron Sting” is specifically designed to strike targets in urban areas with frightening precision and 90 per cent accuracy.
And in conjunction with the IDF’s “Iron Dome” and “Iron Laser”, it is being relied upon to take out enemy targets hidden deep within urban areas before Israel launches an expected full-scale ground invasion into the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s military and defence electronics maker, Elbit Systems, said the weapons system uses “precise, laser and GPS guided mortar munition” to hit targets in dense, urban environments, while “reducing the possibility of collateral damage and preventing injury to non-combatants.”
“Its operational use will revolutionise ground warfare and equip battalions with organic, accurate and effective firepower,” the company said in 2021.
The weapons system can be loaded in just 15 seconds, can fire 16 rounds per minute and its powerful warhead can penetrate double reinforced concrete up to 12km away.
Israel’s “Iron Beam” laser guns are also being used on the battlefield and can shoot down missiles travelling at the speed of light.
The mobile air defence system fires powerful beams of light into the sky to turn fast-moving projectiles into dust.
It was designed as a cheaper alternative to work alongside Israel’s famous Iron Dome, which is the first missile interceptor of its kind in the world.
It comes as the IDF announced they have been staging “limited” raids inside Gaza in order to target sites where Hamas terror squads are gathering as they prepare to resist the looming invasion.
“During the night there were raids by tank and infantry forces. These raids are raids that kill squads of terrorists who are preparing for our next stage in the war.
“These are raids that go deep,” chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said today.
Yesterday, Israel blitzed Gaza in what is believed to be its most intense 24hr period of air strikes as their expected ground invasion looms ever-nearer.
The IDF claimed to have hit 320 targets in one day, including Hamas’s network of tunnels.
Gaza’s health ministry says more than 5,000 have been killed since Israel began its bombardment of Gaza, with 400 killed in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Israel released satellite images that appear to show Hamas rocket launchers deliberately placed next to schools, a mosque and a UN building in Gaza.
Over the past two weeks, numerous evidence has emerged that Hamas has disguised its weapons under the cover of civilian infrastructure, including public buildings and residences.
The strategy makes it difficult for the IDF to locate and destroy the military targets in the densely-populated enclave without killing or hurting civilians.
The “Iron Sting” will likely be heavily relied upon in coming days and weeks for exactly this purpose – taking out targets with precision to limit civilian casualties.
It also comes as instructions on how to make chemical weapons, including cyanide bombs, were reportedly found on the body of a dead terrorist.
The IDF claims to have struck a “terrorist cell” inside Lebanon last night.
They said they destroyed infrastructure targets, including anti-tank missile launchers and a military compound.
“The terrorist cell was planning to carry out an anti-tank missile launch towards the town of Shlomi,” the IDF said.
For days, Israel has been on the verge of launching a ground offensive in Gaza, with tanks and tens of thousands of troops massed at the border.
It is likely that the nation will follow a ferocious five-step plan for a successful ground offensive.
That would include seizing north Gaza, eliminating Hamas’ military and leadership, applying the same steps in the south of the Strip, establishing a fortified base, pinpointing strikes to wipe out Hamas, and demilitarising Gaza within five years.
Today, Israel also said it would be releasing gruesome, unfiltered bodycam videos of Hamas terrorists slaughtering babies and families during their October 7 massacre.
The unprecedented move is intended to reveal the true horrors unleashed by Hamas on southern Israeli communities and counter any persisting claims the atrocities did not take place.
AFPGaza has reportedly suffered the worst 24 hours of Israeli air strikes[/caption]
GettyOver 5,000 are said to have been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza[/caption]
AFPPeople dig and search through the rubble of a destroyed building in southern Gaza[/caption]
GettyIsraeli troops and armoured vehicles heading to Gaza’s border[/caption]