The Israel Defense Force (IDF) deployed a cutting-edge kamikaze drone for the first time in an offensive role in Gaza last week.
IDF soldiers exposed and struck a terrorist cell using the Rafael Spike Firefly (Maoz in Hebrew) in the Shejaiya neighborhood on Friday, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Hamas’ Shejaiya brigade headquarters was destroyed during the operation, killing an unspecified number of militants, according to the Israeli outlet.
Additionally, a recent video uploaded by the Palestinian TubasTimes Telegram channel shows the drone being used in the West Bank city of Jenin.
Designed for urban environments, the 3-kilogram (6.61-pound) drone is armed with a 350-gram (12.6-ounce) fragmentation or shaped charge warhead. It has a range of 500 meters (1,640 feet) in urban areas and double that in the open, and an endurance of 15 and 30 minutes, depending upon a configuration of one or two battery packs. On standby mode, its endurance increases to two hours.
The tube-shaped coaxial rotorcraft features dual infrared and electro-optical seeker and proximity sensors to detect, identify, and track agile targets. The Firefly was “designed to be used for the dismounted soldier fighting within the dense urban areas where situational awareness is limited, the enemy is fighting from behind cover and the effectiveness of fire support elements is reduced by the close proximity of noncombatants,” according to Rafael.
