The defense establishment today (Sunday) unveils the IDF’s precise mortar bomb – a “steel sting”. This is a weapon that is considered very advanced and groundbreaking, with the 120 mm mortar bomb becoming an accurate weapon through laser and GPS guidance, in contrast Ordinary mortar bombs that are considered statistical weapons.
After ten years of research and development, Mapat in the Ministry of Defense, the land arm and Elbit Systems, which manufactures the advanced mortar bomb, recently completed a series of experiments that were defined as very successful. Following the completion of the experiment, the IDF is expected to acquire weapons as early as next year. Systems of a few single thousand of the new bomb, whose level of accuracy reaches a maximum deviation of up to ten meters, in ninety percent of cases.
The defense establishment says that the new shrapnel will allow accurate and lethal fire on targets in open areas and even in dense urban areas where terrorists operate while exploiting the population as a human shield. This is an operational capability for the combat battalion level, so the battalion commander will have weapons available to achieve accurate damage even during combat In built-up areas.
The IDF battalions will be equipped with the new bomb after training processes that will soon take place in the IDF’s regular battalions in the coming months. At the same time, the defense establishment emphasizes that the precision mortar will not replace all the mortar shells in the IDF, but will be combined in the mix in the combat units, so that the battalion commander will be able to continue using regular mortars when the open areas are used for different operational purposes.
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The IDF’s new mortar bomb (Photo: IDF Spokesman)As stated, the precise shrapnel will allow a hit on the target with a deviation of less than ten meters, compared to the shrapnel today whose deviation from a hit on the target is about 50 meters. In fact, this is a very significant change that is expected to affect the battlefield, due to its higher cost than the regular bomb it will not replace all the mortar bombs but will be integrated into the existing lineup and activated according to the commander’s decision in the field.
The army says that in fact already at the battalion level there will be a precision capability in the targets as there was in the past only at the brigade and division level and this is a very significant line. In recent years, the use of artillery and mortar fire has become extremely complex, especially in built-up areas, due to the work that it is a statistical weapon that has no precision capability. A steel sting bomb was said to change this trend, which is defined in the IDF as a revolution in the ability to fire at the level of the combat battalion.
Mapat’s head of research and development, Brigadier General Yaniv Rotem, said: “Ten years of research and development have brought us to this moment, when we provide the infantry forces in the IDF with a means of breaking equality on the modern battlefield.” He added that “the precision missile provides an accurate firing capability that was until now only for missiles and aerial armaments.”
The advanced weapon is manufactured by Elbit Systems. Yehuda Vered, CEO of the company’s land division, said: “This is a leap in the ability to assist the fire at the tactical level, in fact it turns the mortar used from statistical weapons into accurate fire.” He added: “We believe we have developed an effective solution that will greatly increase the lethality of forces on the ground, while significantly reducing incidental damage.”
The series of experiments with the new bomb was carried out in the south of the country using two systems – a “bow” kit installed on an APC and a “spear” system installed on a 4X4 vehicle.