THIS is the moment Israel’s latest torpedo missiles smashed into an “enemy” target before obliterating it in a huge sea explosion.
Dramatic footage released by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) shows the country’s latest naval technology being tested during war drills.
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The torpedo, designed to wipe out submarines and warships, was launched from an IDF submarine targeting a dummy enemy target.
Within moments, the underwater missile smashed into the target and destroyed it.
Incredible footage captured the huge explosion caused by the blitz.
The explosion lasted one second and was heard clearly above water.
Lt. Col. R., the deputy commanding officer of IDF’s Shayetet 7 unit, said: “We heard the force [of the explosion] and saw the massive cloud of smoke and the target sinking. It’s an amazing experience.”
The torpedo multiplies the submarine’s operational capabilities, he added.
He explained the operational advantage that such a weapon provides for the military.
“The target may be invisible, and we can still shoot.
“[The torpedo] allows us to operate silently, at long range – and where necessary.”
“While the impact of the explosive can’t be hidden – the activity of the submarines would continue to remain under the radar, hidden and secret, deep under the water.”
The army commander added that soldiers underwent intense military drills, including shooting torpedoes and simulating extreme scenarios.
The Shayetet 7 has been trained for the destruction of enemy vessels, controlling the entrances to ports, carrying out espionage activities, and assisting other IDF units in combat, the Jerusalem Post reports.
In February, the Israeli military successfully tested an incredible new laser gun defence system designed to shoot enemy missiles out of the sky.
The experimental Iron Beam is the brainchild of a doctor dubbed Israel’s equivalent to MI6’s Q, who is also behind Israel’s Iron Dome.
The new defence system destroys incoming rockets using beams of light, adding a “new dimension” to the already very effective Israeli Iron Dome defence system which protects the country against short-range rockets regularly launched by the likes of Hamas and Hezbollah.
Dr Danny Gold, the scientific genius behind both air defence systems, said the new laser had been “played with” throughout the Gaza war.
He told The Telegraph: “We got authorisation one year ago to go to full-scale development and bring the system to the field. We will finish the job in numerous years… I can’t tell you exactly when.
“And once in a while, we play with the current toolkit that we have. If we have the opportunity of people shooting at us, we can expand the testing.”
MIDDLE EAST TINDERBOX
Pressure is mounting for Israel to strengthen its defences as a potential conflict looms in the Middle East.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s military operation inside Gaza to wipe out evil Hamas has reached almost a year.
Iran and its proxy forces – most notably Hezbollah – have traded missile attacks with Israel after the IDF went on a killing spree to wipe out top terror commanders.
Israel has engaged in tit-for-tat strikes with Hamas-allied Hezbollah for 10 months since war broke out in the Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah launched a barrage of missiles towards Israel in a bid to avenge the killing of one of its founders and top commanders in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last month.
For weeks Israel has been preparing to thwart a potential attack from the terror group and Iran – its puppet master – after it killed Ismail Haniyeh on Iranian soil.
Hezbollah, Iran’s biggest proxy terror group, aimed to fire thousands of rockets towards the north and central Tel Aviv, Israel claims, but was only able to launch a few hundred missiles after IDF strikes thwarted its plans.
IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Hezbollah was trying to “harm Israeli civilians” and had only succeeded in launching “only about 230 rockets” and about 20 drones.
However, the attack still threatened to trigger an all-out war which could draw in the United States, Iran and militant groups across the region.
Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah swore the operation was only “phase one” of its master plan to avenge the assassination of its commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut last month.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that Israel’s pre-emptive strikes are “not the end”.
Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,199 people, most of them civilians.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has so far killed at least 40,405 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Out of 251 hostages seized by Hamas militants in their attack, 105 remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Recent tensions in the Middle East
By Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
After almost 10 months of the war in Gaza, tensions hit an all-new high following a series of deadly strikes and high-profile assassinations by Israel in late July and early August.
On Saturday, July 27, a rocket strike fired from southern Lebanon hit a football pitch in Golan Heights – a Druze village occupied by Israel – killing 12 young people including children.
Israel and the US both said Hezbollah, the largest of Iran’s terror proxy groups, operating out of Lebanon, was responsible for the deadly strike.
On Monday, July 28, the IDF dropped an airstrike on an area of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, killing Hezbollah’s most senior military commander Fuad Shukr.
Less than two days later, at around 2am on Wednesday, July 30, Israel killed Hamas’ top political leader Ismail Haniyeh as he slept in Iran’s capital Tehran.
On the morning of Thursday, August 1 morning, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) announced that a strike on Khan Younis, southern Gaza, had killed Mohammed Deif on July 13.
Dief had worked as head of Hamas’ ruthless military wing, the al-Qassam brigades, since 2002.
It marked another major loss for Iran’s terror proxy groups in the region.
Early reports suggested Ismail Haniyeh was taken out in a precision strike when a rocket was fired from a drone outside his window and detonated inside the room.
Then an investigation by the New York Times suggested a bomb had been planted in his room at the military-run compound where he was staying and detonated remotely.
Unnamed Iranian officials also shared the explosive theory with The Telegraph, further confusing the murky details around Haniyeh’s death.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), concluded its investigation into the humiliating security breach on Saturday, August 1 and said he died after a “short-range projectile” was fired from outside the building.
Iran and its proxy groups; Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen all vowed to seek revenge on Israel over the assassination of Haniyeh.
Then, on the night of Saturday, August 3, Hezbollah fired some 30 rockets from Lebanon towards Galilee in northern Israel.
Tel Aviv’s impressive Iron Dome Defence system launched into action, destroying “most” of the missiles and no one was hurt.
But the UK, US and France have all urged their citizens to evacuate from Lebanon as fears of a wider war breaking out in the region continue to spiral.
