On Sunday, Israeli military personnel shared footage of the "Iron Sting" system being used for the very first time in a military action.
The system was used to deliver a mortar bomb in order to destroy a rocket launcher, as Fox News reported.
The Israeli Air Force put on X a video that it said showed a 120mm mortar decimating an enemy rocket launcher. The video also described the Iron Sting as "an innovative and accurate mortar bomb."
The Iron Sting is one of a range of weapons that are being used to stop dozens of terrorists, according to the Israeli Air Force. In collaboration with their air force, the Israeli Army utilized the weapon system.
Elbit Systems, the company that created the system, stated in a news release that it employs a "precise, laser and GPS guided mortar munition" to hit targets in congested, urban situations while "reducing the possibility of collateral damage and preventing injury to non-combatants," according to the statement.
"Its operational use will revolutionize ground warfare and equip battalions with organic, accurate and effective firepower," the release said.
יחידת מגלן בשיתוף חיל-האוויר, סיכלה עשרות מחבלים באמצעות מגוון אמצעי לחימה, ביניהם פצצת מרגמה (פצמ״ר) חדשנית ומדויקת, הנקראת "עוקץ פלדה".
צפו בתיעוד מתקיפת משגר רקטות באמצעות "עוקץ פלדה" pic.twitter.com/ucphdgboJN
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) October 22, 2023
In March of 2021, the testing phase of the weapon system was successfully finished.
"[The Iron Sting] also fulfills the IDF’s needs, adapting combat capabilities to contend with enemies hidden within civilian, urban environments, while meeting the legal and moral standards set by the State of Israel," then-Defense Minister Benny Gantz said in the release.
After Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israeli territory on October 7, Israeli troops retaliated by launching hundreds of air strikes over Gaza and the West Bank.
More than 1,400 people have been killed as a direct consequence of the fighting in Israel. The vast majority of those killed were unarmed civilians, and Hamas was responsible for the majority of their deaths.
Hamas asserts that more than 4,300 Palestinians have been killed in the battle, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, a government entity run by Hamas.
Even while the Israeli Defense Forces have made clear preparations for a possible ground incursion into Gaza, they have not yet moved forward with the plan.
An Israeli ground offensive would very probably result in a considerable rise in the number of casualties incurred by both sides in urban battle. This would be the case regardless of who launched the attack.
