From manufacturing to training and service.. Learn about the “Al-Yassin 105” missile

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Video duration 08 minutes 21 seconds 08:21

The "Al-Yassin 105" missile constituted a milestone in the face of Palestinian resistance to Israeli vehicles penetrating into Gaza during the war on the besieged Strip. The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), announced that this missile had destroyed more than 1,100 Israeli vehicles since the beginning of the war.

In a report by Suhaib Al-Assa highlighting the stages of manufacturing this missile and what preceded it, Al-Jazeera presented pictures published by Al-Qassam for the first time, showing the details and capabilities of this missile, which began manufacturing in 2004.

Since the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000, Israel has relied on its armored vehicles to invade Palestinian cities, while in contrast, the resistance only had light weapons and homemade explosive devices, which required a large amount of rare explosive materials and then planted in the expected path of the vehicles.

Hence, the resistance forces had to search for more powerful and effective alternatives, which began in 2002 with attempts to produce an anti-armor weapon. The Al-Battar and Al-Banna missiles were manufactured, but the weak penetration of the target mechanism’s armor remained a problem.

In 2004, Al-Qassam fighters copied the Russian “Al-Yassin B2” missile from the Russian RPG-B2 missile, thus achieving an abundance of weapons and ammunition. Its most prominent appearance was in the Battle of the Days of Rage at the beginning of October of the same year, but the problem of the extent of penetration remained. The power of destruction is present.

Power to counter armor

In the same year, the RPG-B7 shell entered with great difficulty and in limited numbers, but at very high prices, as the value of the shell reached $25,000 and $5,000 per shell. In that year, the Qassam Brigades formed a force specialized in confronting armor.

In the 2014 war, Israeli vehicles penetrated as never before, and the occupation used its most fortified vehicles, namely the Merkava tank, the “Tiger” armored vehicle, and the “D9” bulldozer, which prompted Al-Qassam to produce its own anti-armor weapon to specifically target the fortifications of these vehicles.

During that period, the engineering teams in Al-Qassam were able to obtain accurate information about the measurements, raw materials, and alloys from which the Israeli vehicles were made. With this information, the Merkava and other vehicles were studied in depth, and their weak points and operating mechanisms were determined.

Al-Qassam engineers built models that simulated these Israeli mechanisms very accurately, and thus produced the “Al-Yassin 105” anti-armor shell. The training phase began, thus completing an important stage of preparation and preparation in the Al-Qassam Brigades.

Merkava lightning

Less than a month before the outbreak of the current war, Israel was introducing into military service the fifth generation "Merkava Lightning" tank, and the Ministry of Defense published on its website a review of the capabilities of this tank.

The cost of producing this tank is $6 million, half of which is for the body and armor, and the other half is divided between the cannon system and the other equipment system, and it is flown by 4 fighters: a commander, gunner, ammunition, and driver.

Israel also developed the "Tiger" armored vehicle, which costs about $4 million and carries 11 soldiers on board. It is accompanied in most military operations by a "D9" bulldozer, which costs $1 million, and its crew consists of two soldiers.

Opposite these three vehicles, a Qassam fighter from the anti-tank units stands with an “Al-Yassin 105” launcher on his shoulder, the shell of which costs $500 after the brigades completed its development to reach its current shape and capacity.

Al-Qassam was able to rely on itself in manufacturing this missile, thus providing large quantities of it, enabling its fighters to train intensively. The “Al-Yassin 105” shell penetrates more than 60 centimeters of the vehicle’s body.

Source: Al Jazeera