New Fire Brigade female combatants launch Romah rockets
Rockets were fired during a drill in Golan Heights after fire brigade takes over artillery support unit; 'It’s a strong sensation to fire the Romah, and especially hitting the target', said two female combatants in the brigade.
Women in the Israel Fire Brigade launched the Romah rockets as part of the brigade's replacement of the 282 Artillery Support Unit.
As part of a new strategy, the fire bigade will now be assigned to attack missions, and its activities will not be restricted to purely support assignments for infantry maneuvers.
The new division will be under the command of Col. Neri Horowitz. The brigade's first practice was held in the Golan Heights a few weeks ago, and the new Romah rockets, which are gradually being introduced into IDF’s units, were fired.
The fire brigade refuses to say whether the rockets have already been put to use in combat, but the launches demonstrated target accuracy.
The Israel Military Industries (IMI)-made Romah rockets are capable of precision strikes against enemy targets, with only several meters of margin of error. Possible targets include, among others, bunkers and operation rooms.
In the actual practice they were launched alongside statistical artillery of the motorized artillery 411 battalion.
One officer explained that despite the effectiveness of the new rockets, their predecessors will remain useful in military operations.
“These shells will always be useful in the battlefield, since there is an advantage to statistical fire when we are aiming at open spaces and want to cover a larger surface area,” explained the officer from the unit.
In some practice scenarios the shells were fired as cover and rescue weapons for infantry and armored corps combatants, who were several hundred meters from the point of impact.
While during combat the distance between infantry positions and artillery points of impact would be between 200-300 meters, during practice it is 700 meters.
Romah rockets are capable of hitting from longer ranges, and during practice launches have been fired by female combatants.
The women who took part in the exercise are limited to those who would cross the Israeli border during any future conflict as part of a front line unit, and are thus defined as front line combatants.
Female combatants work from firing station located on the Romah truck launching platform. They calculate firing data using meteorological data, launcher positions, satellites and drones which observe the target area.
“It’s a strong sensation to fire the Romah, and especially hitting the target,” said two female combatants, Staff Sgt. Talia Maman from Yavne and Sgt. Elinor Haziza from Nahariya.
The two arrived in the practice routine straight from holding a line in the Qalqilya region.
Currently, the vast majority of fire power in Israeli ground forces is statistical—meaning it is comprised of regular and less modern artillery equipment. However, the IDF aspires to convert the shortfall by replacing the old gear with precise shells in about 50 percent of armaments within a few years.
Last May’s IDF attacks on Iranian targets in Syria were executed, inter alia, using artillery.
One of the officers from a brigade that had participated in the firing said: “It was exciting, we waited there for a week in suspense, and then when the Syrian rockets flew above us we said that we have to be the ones who react. Combatants were very excited.”
