- Iron Sting is yet one more technology to come out of Elbit and Israel’s wheelhouse of precision future weapons that are transforming the battlefield.
- Iron Sting is considering to be able to change the outcome of the battlefield thanks to its powerful destructive power with almost absolute accuracy.
srael unveiled its new Iron Sting this week, a precision laser and GPS-guided mortar munition. The Directorate of Defense Research and Development in the Ministry of Defense, the Israel Defense Force’s Ground Forces and Elbit Systems revealed the new technology. Elbit System is one of Israel’s three leading defense giants. In the past, it has partnered with Israel’s government on new “artillery of the future” a fully-integrated artillery solution that will be smarter than systems in the past.
The Iron Sting system uses both GPS and laser global positioning technology, bringing the accuracy of Israeli ground forces to a new level. GPS can be jammed, which is the main navigation system, but when needed, the mortars can be guided in a targeted laser beam, creating a formidable new weapon against enemies in crowded urban environment. When the mortar reaches the highest point in its flight trajectory, the wings are activated and the bullet can be orbited.
To give the artillery a flexible trajectory, the weapon developers equipped Iron Sting with its own software unlike any other weapon. When fired from the Spear self-propelled mortar system, Iron Sting bullets give the enemy almost no chance to intercept and counterattack no matter how advanced they have the defense system because Spear is very maneuverable. . While the enemy’s interception system had not been able to determine the coordinates, the Spear mortar could maneuver to another location after firing it.
Iron Sting can change the outcome of the battlefield thanks to its powerful destructive power with almost absolute accuracy, helping to reduce unnecessary casualties for third parties, very suitable in residential battles or Urban environment – limits side damage and property, protects civilian lives. According to the Israel Defense Ministry’s statement, the 120 mm lron Sting will bring more firepower to smaller units, able to strike a precise target in both well-ventilated and residential terrain.
“New technology will change the course of the battlefield and provide IDF” with more accurate and efficient means … Iron Sting meets IDF’s need to adjust combat capabilities to combat hidden enemies. in the population or urban environment, “said Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz.
Colonel Assaf Shatzkin, head of land systems at Israel Defense Research & Development (DDR&D), told Breaking Defense that Iron Sting turns mortar accuracy from a probability problem into one. of things almost certainly. “The new type of shell will be able to hit targets that have not yet been assigned to mortars,” he said.Historically, mortars have been the favorite heavy weapon of infantry, a convenient short-range cannon that can fire “indirectly” over hills and buildings at invisible targets. Historically, they are also not particularly accurate. Iron Sting aims to change that, turning mortars into precision-guided weapons that hit the target in the first series of bullets with minimal extra damage.
And General Yaniv Rotem, Head of Research and Development Department of Israel Defense Ministry, said that the 10-year Iron Sting mortar development program aimed at giving IDF “accurate strike capability that is only available on rockets or bombs “.
After Iron Sting completes its final tests, in the coming months Elbit will begin mass production for the Israel Defense Forces as well as interested foreign customers.
The US can easily accept the Israeli mortar since it uses the same 120 mm ammo size on the Stryker special fire support variants (which can also be equipped with Israeli anti-missile systems) and vehicles. Armored multipurpose AMPV.
Furthermore, the US Army has been looking to upgrade its mortars for a while, including field testing of computerized 81 mm mortars known as direct / indirect automatic firing mortars ( Automated Direct / Indirect-fire Mortar – ADIM) in Germany in 2018. The US has developed some advanced targeting systems for existing mortars, but Iron Sting goes a step further with superior war-engineering features. dominant.