New device improves fighting efficacy by enabling solders to attach sighting devices to light machine guns.
By United with Israel
A new initiative by two residents of the Israeli town of Kiryat Arba, south of Jerusalem, is helping IDF soldiers fighting terrorists in Gaza improve operational efficacy in the heat of battle.
Yosef Darshan explained that, in the early days of Israel’s war with Hamas, his friend Avishai Paranes received a complaint from a soldier who operated a Negev light machine gun. The soldier fighting in Gaza lamented that he was unable to even fasten a sighting device to his weapon, leaving his fighting capabilities severely curtailed.
Soldiers who operate Negev machine guns – “Negevists,” as they are known in the IDF – play a crucial role in IDF fighting units. Negevists are generally stationed in front of other soldiers and tasked with clearing out terrorist-infested buildings or providing cover for their comrades.
However, while regular-service Negevists generally receive newer weapons that include sighting devices, soldiers in the reserves receive older weapons that do not. As a result, these reservists lack the ability for precision fire that is crucial when confronted by terrorists during battle.
The two friends decided to remedy the matter and, with the help of metal worker Assaf Kornfein, from the nearby town of Mevo Beitar, developed a mount enabling the attachment of sighting devices to the old Negevs.
“We received urgent calls from soldiers in the field saying they had Negev weapons without sighting devices,” Kornfein said, according to Israel Hayom.
“We looked at the Negev from all sorts of directions and came up with this solution,” Paranes added.
According to Israel Hayom, the invention has already proven immensely popular among reserve soldiers in elite units. Yosef says so far some 300 mounts have been supplied, and another 400 units have requested the device. The inventors are also holding discussions with the IDF regarding the introduction of the device into army ranks on an institutional level, Israel Hayom said.
The mount is named after heroic Negevist Tomer Nagar, who fell while covering for his comrades as terrorists infiltrated Israel on October 7.
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