Illustrative photo of an Israeli F-15 Eagle fighter jet (Edi Israel/Flash90/File)
The Israeli military used a secret drone-launched guided missile dubbed “Mikholit” during its last military operation against Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip, photos released by the Palestinian New Press agency on May 21 revealed.
The photos show two nearly-intact Mikholit missiles which were found by civil workers while removing war debris in Gaza.
#صور: للدمار الذي خلفه عدوان الاحتلال الإسرائيلي على قطاع غزة. pic.twitter.com/Kyw7G0vVV9
— Newpress | نيو برس (@NewpressPs) May 21, 2021
The small diameter guided missile which was designed to be launched from drones is one of Israel’s best kept military secrets. The specifications of the missiles are unknown but most open sources suggest that it is linked to the Israeli Nimrod missile, which is guided with semi-active laser.
Mikholit was spotted before in Gaza, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula as well as in Lebanon, where a Hermes 450 drone carrying at least four such missiles crashed on March 31 of 2018.
Mikholit missiles. Photo by New Press (newpress.ps). Click to see full-size.
Palestinian sources reported many Israeli drone strikes on the Gaza Strip during the last battle, which started on May 10 and ended on the morning of May 21.
The photos released by New Press also shows the remains of three US-made GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs). The use of this precision-guided glide bomb was documented during the war. The bomb has a range of 110 km.
GBU-39 SDBs. Photo by New Press (newpress.ps). Click to see full-size.
Another US-made guided bomb that was spotted in New Press photos was the GBU-54, a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) enhanced with a DSU-38/B semi-active laser seeker.
GBU-54 LJDAM. Photo by New Press (newpress.ps). Click to see full-size.
Despite Israel’s extensive used of precision-guided munitions, at least 66 children were killed as a result of the strikes on the Gaza Strip. On top of that, the Israeli military failed to stop rocket fire from the enclave.
