AP — It has been touted by the manufacturer as the ballistic missile of the future: lethal, long-range, and pinpoint. Lockheed Martin’s Precision Strike Missile has the US military investing billions to update its arsenal.

But a close look at what is believed to be its first use in combat — on the first day of the Iran war — highlights the potential peril of deploying this weapon near population centers because it appears to spray pellets over a wide area, according to a review by the conflict monitor Airwars and interviews with weapons experts and former defense officials.

Three missiles that struck the southern city of Lamerd on February 28 killed civilians as far as 50 meters (164 feet) from where they detonated, and caused damage more than three times farther away, Airwars found. The missiles detonated above a sports complex and two residential neighborhoods, Airwars found. The blasts killed at least 21 civilians, including seven children, according to Iranian officials.

Airwars was the first to map the damage radius of the strikes in Lamerd and estimate the lethal range of the weapon used.

The PrSM is designed to explode midair and propel tens of thousands of dense metal pellets at high speed in all directions. Photos, videos and satellite images of the Lamerd strikes’ aftermath analyzed by Airwars and verified by The Associated Press show buildings, streets and vehicles were heavily pockmarked in a blast pattern that experts say is consistent with the PrSM’s capabilities.

The US military confirmed firing PrSMs into Iran, but has denied attacking Lamerd.

It is unclear who or what was the intended target in Lamerd. An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps compound was located nearby, but satellite images showed no damage there.

Six weapons experts, including two who are former military officials, told AP they believe PrSMs struck Lamerd — and they said it was unlikely that Israeli or Iranian weapons were used. All said militaries should avoid firing the PrSM at targets near civilian areas.

“You would be hard-pressed to find a reason to use the PrSM in a densely populated area,” said Michael Meier, a former US Army adviser on the laws of war.

How Airwars reached its conclusions

Airwars, a London-based nonprofit, was founded more than a decade ago to track reports of civilian deaths from US airstrikes in Syria and Iraq, and has also monitored conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and elsewhere. It relies on........

© The Times of Israel