[ad_1]
Israel has released rare footage of its use of secret guided anti-tank missiles, appearing to prove Syria’s claim last week that Tel Aviv used the weapon to attack Damascus.
In recent images posted by and reported on by Ynet News, the IDF could be seen firing a “Tamuz” surface-to-surface missile, which has so far been kept secret. In the video, the Israeli arms company Rafael carries out experimental fire from its test site based in the Negev desert.
Hours before the footage was released, an Israeli attack reportedly struck sites used by Iranian militias on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus. State Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), in addition, cited the use of such missiles, noting that “the Israeli enemy fired a salute of surface-to-surface missiles from northern occupied Palestine targeting positions near Damascus.”
The existence of the weapons system – known as the “fire-and-forget guided anti-tank missile” – was first made public nine years ago after the IDF used it in its attack. 2012 assault on the Gaza Strip. As well as being used against the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, it was also reportedly used against the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite militia movement Hezbollah.
READ: Withdrawal of Iran from Syria
According to Ynet, the weapon became operational 30 years ago, when electro-optical targeting systems were made operational in the IDF in 1991. Later in the decade, it was then installed on planes and ships. of war.
At an event hosted by the military on Sunday at the Caesarea Amphitheater, Rafael’s Precision Tactical Weapons Systems Division chief Zvi Marmor said that “the missile has a range of several dozen. kilometers, is fully controlled by the operator and knows how to identify and distinguish targets. It can also operate autonomously.
Marmor added that “the project has been kept a secret for years, even after we were able to double the firing range to 24 km. [15 miles]The Israeli Air Force also reportedly installed the missiles on Apache gunships, further increasing their range to 50 km (30 miles).
The high precision of Tamuz missiles, as well as the fact that they are regularly updated and technologically advanced, have even led to them being sold in 38 countries around the world in their different versions.
According to some reports, however, Israel prefers to use missiles as a last resort, due to their particularly high cost.
READ: Syria accuses Israel of murdering intelligence officer near Golan border
[ad_2]
