The US has deployed a new combat vehicle to Gaza with the aim of field testing the weapon for use in Ukraine, as the Pentagon hopes it will help repel Russian drone attacks. Moscow’s forces have made significant territorial gains in Ukraine, in part, by overwhelming Kiev’s air defenses.
The Defense Department stationed two Mobile-Low, Slow, Small-Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat Systems (M-LIDS) in Gaza stating in May, the Telegraph reported. “The US Army sailed some of its coastal landing ships to Gaza as part of the US military’s humanitarian flotilla, the ships carried one of the initial M-LIDS vehicle sets,” the outlet wrote, adding that “At least one M-LIDS vehicle rolled down the pier and took up station at the edge of the beach.”
The Telegraph described the Gaza operation as a “pre-war test” for later use against Russia.
Designed by the Pentagon in response to the war in Ukraine, the M-LIDS is an anti-drone weapon which carries a set of sensors and a 30mm chain gun mounted on multiple mine-resistant vehicles. Moscow and Kiev have used hundreds of thousands of small UAVs during the war, and the drones have played a major role in successful offensives by both sides.
The M-LIDS was part of Biden’s $320 million aid pier for Gaza. While the president promised the pier project would not require American boots on the ground, the M-LIDS were photographed in very shallow water.
Biden’s pier has so far proven to be a disaster. The costs have skyrocketed, three US troops have been injured, the pier was dislodged by mild weather, and it delivered a minimal amount of aid to Gaza in the few days it was active.
Additionally, the M-LIDS were deployed in coordination with the Israeli military, appearing to bolster the case that Washington is responsible for Israeli war crimes in Gaza. The UN’s International Court of Justice has ruled that it is plausible Israel has committed acts of genocide in the territory, and the separate International Criminal Court indicted the Israeli premier and defense minister for war crimes carried out against Palestinians.
