When they were young girls, did the determined women sitting in front of me imagine playing roles in developing the Gaza war’s shining star?
“The Iron Sting has proven extremely successful in terms of soldier’s satisfaction,” they say of the new product developed at Elbit Systems – the world’s only mortar munition equipped with a mechanism turning it into a target-guided missile so that its impact is lethal and smart and reaches the precision level of a room in a house, without missing its target.
'No mortar munition can provide destruction at this level'
They can’t be photographed or interviewed with their revealed identities. Dr. A. (73), the most senior of the group, has been managing the warhead field at Taas (IMI) for 35 years. For the past year and a half, she’s been advising the production of Iron Sting warheads (“It’s the part that destroys and kills when needed.”)
“No mortar munition can provide destruction at this level,” says Dr. A., whose friends are quick to point out that “She’s a brand name in the warheads field. She works from dawn to dusk and there’s no defense minister who doesn’t consult her.”
Indeed, in the video they show me, we see Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visiting the production line. We visit the production line, a 15-minute drive from the complex, that until five years ago was known as “Taas” or Israel Military Industries (IMI) and was acquired by Elbit and is expected to move in the coming years to Ramat Beka in the south of the country.
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Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in a guided tour at Elbit Systems
(Photo: Elbit Systems)
Elbit Systems, Israel’s leading defense tech company, develops, produces and markets the edge Israeli defense technology and is partnered with the IDF and Defense Ministry. The company’s portfolio boasts hundreds of products and solutions including Hermes 450 and 900 UAVs and a broad range of air and field artillery, launchers, smart sighting devices, high-energy lasers and the Digital Army Program (DAP). Alongside the headquarters and company sites in Israel, Elbit has a further 40 subsidiary companies across the globe and employs 20 thousand workers, 13 thousand in Israel.
In a building the size of a safe-room-and-a-half, bright green mortars with red hoods are neatly lined up. I’m granted permission to touch them. L., Elbit VP and director of the business unit at the land division, responsible for selling products across the world is 43 and is married with three children born into their mother’s crazy career.
She tells me “I was an infantry and mortar instructor in the army. After officers’ training course, I became head of the mortar section responsible for certifying and training infantry fighters for mortars and their operation. Elbit took me on from the army. I’ve been in the field for 25 years.” Her friends add “She’s VP in a very masculine company. She’s broken through the glass ceiling and is a source of inspiration.”
L.: “I don’t see it as strange. I’ve been in the business for many years. I believe that if you’re good, you make the effort, you’re curious and want to know, you’ll make it in the end - even if the journey’ isn’t always easy. People coming in for interviews often think I’m the secretary” she says with a smile. “But like Dr. A. is known as Ms. Warheads, I’m known as Ms. Mortars. Any commander with a mortar problem in Gaza will call me directly from the field.”
What do you mean? Do they call you from the war?
“Yes. Commanders in the field call asking questions about mortars. They know me from the army from when I was their mortar instructor. Who else would they call?“
'Iron Sting turns a statistic into a precision hit.'
Elbit had a large team working on Iron Sting long before October 7, and the war in Gaza was the first chance for it to prove itself. “Infantry attacks hadn’t had precise solutions for attack because a mortar only reaches an accuracy of two to three hundred feet and is designed to soften the target. Iron Sting uses all the lethal missile technological assets we’ve developed, and places them on a warhead, creating tactical precision solutions” says Dr. A.
L.: “Iron Sting turns a statistic into a precision hit.” We took the existing mortar system, which works great on hammers and APCs, and developed an armament suitable for them, but that acts like a missile and can hit targets with precision. For years now, a broad and diverse team has been working on developing this in full collaboration with the IDF, the Ministry of Defense and the Directorate of Defense, Research, & Development (DDR&D), addressing many challenges along the way.”
What kind of challenges?
“Firstly, reaching the required level of accuracy, lethality and range. It also needs to withstand various environmental conditions and shorten the time for rounds, while preserving armaments economy. A soldier can hit a target with a single mortar in under a minute and, for the first time - down to the battalion commander in the field - there’s precise weaponry integrated into the existing system that the soldiers already know how to operate. We integrated the mortar firing so that it acts like a missile on the existing systems. Iron Sting must be operated in a calculated manner.”
And the whole world will soon want to buy it.
“Obviously. This is one of our main goals. This solution doesn’t yet exist in the rest of the world either.”
Z.: “So, on October 7, we could provide quick solutions and accelerate the production line. We just showed up and started responding to whatever the IDF asked for, including ongoing supply. Once a week, they’d come to collect whatever we had ready. As production was ongoing, we could already see the results in the field. This very much motivated the workers. Even religious workers showed up on Shabbat as they realized the need was existential.”
'Women have advantages in this profession'
The Maglan reconnaissance unit was the first to use the Israeli innovation and various commanders came to see the production room at Glilot for themselves. “One of the most touching moments was when the soldiers operating Iron Sting in the war arrived,” says Z. (52) who works in Iron Sting’s operation department. “Special forces reservists met production workers who told us they hadn’t been moved so much in all the time they’d been working here.”
With a high school background in technology and having served in the Air Force fire control system, she’s been working at Elbit for 13 years. “I’ve been involved in Iron Sting from the development stage and I’m now responsible for our production. We’ve been working hard these past few months and we’ve been very much part of the war.
"We’re very proud to have provided the army with real and immediate solutions in zero time. I didn’t breathe for the first month. We worked Fridays and Shabbat to meet demand. There were nights I didn’t sleep because I knew they were using our mortars at that very moment. Seeing the results of our workers’ hard work on this crazy project with its ups and downs is enormously satisfying. And now, seeing the unique product on which we’ve worked so hard, providing quality solutions, and the IDF wants more of it – it’s worth everything.”
What do you tell your daughters you do?
“For them, I set an example and I’m a source of inspiration. This makes me happy and proud.”
L.: “We work in a mainly male field, but I’m sure we’ll be seeing more and more women in key positions in defense companies. Iron Swords has changed the gender balance in the field.”
Is being a woman an advantage in these roles?
L.: “Definitely. My sensitivity and intuition help me conduct myself with my colleagues and manage my people better. Our red nail varnish does the job” she jokes. “But women bring something else too. I call it ‘by determination and sensitivity’, a combination constantly guiding me.”
D.: “Women have the further advantage of being able to do various things at once. We’re even working now, during this interview.” She smiles as she looks back at her phone screen, whispering to her friend beside her, Dr. A2., head of the rockets system’s navigation department, responsible for missile precision.
As a teenager in France, she dreamed of a career combining engineering and aviation. She entered the defense industry after studying Engineering and Aeronautics. “Combining the fields of in mortars is what I always wanted,” she tells us. “Navigation tells you where you are. Guidance checks to ensure that you get to the desired spot and control makes sure it all happens.”
How did you get into this profession?
“Via Technological Engineering, and mainly – teaching, leading, managing, being good and advancing. Another way is serving in a technological role that brings you here. So, young women enlisting should treat the army as an opportunity to start a career path to enable them to work in the field in the future.”
Z.: “Young women should be steered to study technological subjects like Engineering and Electronics. I studied Electronics and it was clear to me that I’d reach these positions in both army and civilian life.”
Dr. A.: “Over the years, I’ve seen that more and more women are coming to work in the defense industries. Whereas 25 years ago, there would be just one woman attending an international ballistics conference, a lot more women are now showing up at these conferences. We’re seeing the change.”
L.: “In the near future, I’ll certainly be contacted by former female battalion commanders who will naturally be suitable for management positions in the organizations, breaking through the glass ceiling. Today, we have a female air force base commander.”
Z.: “Setting a personal example is what makes the difference. The fact that everyone around me sees me giving my all for our goals, that I’m determined, that I don’t give up, that I’m the first in and that last out – it makes a difference. It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman. Professional sensitivity and determination are what matter."
Do you like your work?
“Very much,” they answer in unison.
Dr. A2.: “My work in algorithms isn’t repetitive. In each development, we’ll discover a new world and every experiment is a wonderful feeling.“
Dr. A.: “Staying in a field at my age means loving it. It’s diverse and the war is constantly setting us new targets and challenges to address. But it comes with a great deal of satisfaction because the feedback from the army is immediate.”
Z.: “It’s impossible to serve in a position with so much responsibility if you don’t love it and you’re not devoted, feel you’re contributing, and feel a sense of professional satisfaction. A great deal of responsibility comes with authority.”