Palestinian resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip have likely taken possession of a “highly advanced” Israeli projectile that has fallen into the territory intact and can be reverse-engineered to reveal its industrial technology, a report suggests.
The unexploded ordnance, a “Tamir” interceptor used in Israel’s so-called Iron Dome missile system, was recovered after being fired into Gaza during Israel’s recent 48-hour attacks on the enclave, which died down with a ceasefire on Thursday.
In a report on the same day, the website The Drive used images from a tweet by Joe Truzman, purportedly a security analyst, for a visual investigation of the Israeli interceptor and how much industrial knowledge it could potentially reveal.
The website said the images showed that the interceptor’s proximity fuse system and active radar seeker, which incorporate advanced technology to allow the missile to home in and detonate the missile’s warhead on a target, had been recovered intact.
It was not clear how Truzman had obtained the images, which had Arabic text superimposed on them. The Drive also said it had “no idea where this laser fuse component ended up or where exactly it was found in Gaza and by who.”
More than 400 rockets were fired into Israel by Palestinian resistance groups after Israel assassinated a senior Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza on Tuesday.
The volleys of rockets effectively paralyzed Tel Aviv and other parts of Israel.
Israel reportedly fires two Tamir interceptor missiles — which cost between 40,000 and 100,000 dollars each — to hit a target.
The missiles are designed to self-destruct if they don’t hit their intended target.
The missile recovered in Gaza, however, appears to have failed to do so, the website said.
It said it did not know precisely what components were used on the Tamir interceptor’s fuse system, “but it is described by its manufacturer as ‘unique.’”
The Israeli regime has invested heavily in and hypes the Iron Dome, but the missile system is known to have malfunctioned in the past.