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 U.S. 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 Feb. 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 is 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 U.S. military has 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 is 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 U.S. 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 U.

S. airstrikes in Syria and Iraq, and it has also monitored conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and elsewhere. It relies on publicly available material, such as photos, videos, satellite images, social media and news reports, and uses geolocation software and other tools to help it analyze this evidence.

Airwars used these methods to investigate the strikes on Lamerd. It mapped the approximate locations of the missiles' detonations, where civilians were reported killed and where damage was visible and consistent with blast patterns. It then measured the distances between the positions to estimate the blast radius.

AP verified Airwars' blast radius estimate by measuring the distance between where civilians were killed, based on Iranian media reports, and where the missiles detonated midair, based on security camera and other videos. AP also examined satellite images, photos and videos of damage from the attack sites.

Lockheed Martin, which did not respond to a request for comment, has not said how wide the missile's impact is. It has released an animated video modeling a PrSM blast. US touted use of PrSMs in Iran, but denied attacking Lamerd In a post to X on March 1, the day after Lamerd was struck, U.

S. Central Command included what munitions experts say was an image of the PrSM being fired during the Iran operation. Three days later, it touted that PrSMs — in a “historic first” — had been used in Iran, though not where. Several weeks later, as reports about the strikes in Lamerd garnered media attention, a spokesperson for Central Command said in a statement that U.

S. forces did not launch PrSMs or any weapons into Lamerd on Feb. 28, and that they do not target civilians. The spokesperson said footage of one of the strikes suggested it was an Iranian Hoveyzeh cruise missile. Weapons experts said a missile seen in security camera video from Lamerd does not match that Iranian model, which has a rounded engine.

The Israeli military told AP it did not strike anywhere in Iran as far south as Lamerd on the first day of the war, and experts said Israel’s military is not known to have missiles that detonate midair. When asked about Airwars’ and AP’s findings, U.

S. Central Command reiterated its denial of responsibility, saying that was based on an earlier review of what happened there. Its commander, Adm. Brad Cooper, also told Congress in May that they were only investigating one case of U.S. fire killing civilians — a strike on an Iranian school in Minab.

What the PrSM is meant to do The new missiles are meant to replace the Army Tactical Missile System used for decades, according to the U.S. military. While the ATACMS can travel approximately 300 kilometers (186 miles), the PrSM can hit targets over 499 kilometers (310 miles) away, Lockheed Martin says.

The PrSM differs from its predecessor in another key way. Where ATACMS shatter into steel fragments or small bomblets over their target area, an exploding PrSM fires tens of thousands of pellets made of tungsten in all directions, Airwars and weapons experts say.

Because of tungsten's high density and melting point, the pellets retain their shape after detonation. That makes them extremely lethal, capable of piercing soft armor, according to defense journals. Missiles in Lamerd caused damage far from where they exploded Airwars found footage of a school in Lamerd that was damaged by the missile detonated over the Shahid Naimi Sports Hall about 170 meters (557 feet) away.

That blast killed seven civilians, mostly children, Iranian state media reported. Airwars says it used open-source material to confirm the deaths. Among them were three teenage girls playing volleyball and a woman smoking a hookah in front of her house.

A separate blast over the Tal-e Khandagh neighborhood killed 2-year-old Avina Barzegar, who was playing in her yard. Airwars estimates the pellet that struck Barzegar traveled 50 meters from the blast site. It reached that conclusion by geolocating her house, based on a video showing its front gate, and measuring the distance from the house to the site.

Neither Airwars nor AP could find any reports indicating that military or security personnel were killed in the strikes, or that military infrastructure was hit. The US, UK and Australia are committed to buying more PrSMs Since the Lamerd strikes, the Pentagon signed a contract worth over $4 billion with Lockheed Martin to quadruple PrSM production.

The U.K. said in June it had set aside 130 million pounds ($177 million) to procure the weapon. Australia bought the missiles in 2025 and in April invested billions of dollars into the PrSM program. Weapons experts say the PrSM provides valuable new capabilities, but it should be used carefully.

“Its proper use should be reserved for things like large concentrations of enemy personnel with hard and soft armor,” said Wes Bryant, a former Pentagon adviser on precision warfare and civilian harm mitigation. Trevor Ball, a former explosives expert for the U.

S. Army, also urged caution. “It will kill people outside their homes who aren't protected by walls,” he said. ___ Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin and Collin Binkley in Washington contributed.

More than six months into Iran war, no clear winner as costs mount for US The conflict has strained the United States military, shaken energy markets and piled political pressure on President Donald Trump. WASHINGTON: More than six months after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, the swift victory that Washington had hoped for has given way to a costly stalemate with no clear end in sight.

What US officials had initially suggested would be a campaign lasting several weeks has instead become a protracted conflict. The months since have seen a fragile ceasefire, negotiations, the signing of a memorandum of understanding and, most recently, renewed flare-ups in hostilities.

The latest escalation came on Sunday (Aug 30), when the US military struck two rocket launchers on Iran’s Larak Island, with Tehran responding with an assault on two US bases in Jordan. US MILITARY UNDER STRAIN US and Israeli strikes first hit Iran on Feb 28, with Tehran quickly retaliating against US bases across the Middle East.

By the following day, Iran was mourning its supreme leader of 36 years, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the opening strikes. At the outset of the campaign, Washington laid out its primary military objectives. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Mar 2 that the operation aimed to “destroy Iranian offensive missiles, destroy Iranian missile production, destroy their navy and other security infrastructure”, while ensuring Iran would “never have nuclear weapons”.

However, Trump’s claim in April that Iran’s military had been “completely destroyed” has also faced scrutiny as questions persist over Tehran’s remaining capabilities. For the US military, sustaining the campaign is becoming increasingly difficult. Estimates reported in July suggested that the cost of the conflict could exceed US$100 billion, while US munitions stockpiles have come under growing strain.

Washington’s move to continue deploying military assets in the region to exert pressure on Tehran is also adding to the Pentagon’s financial burden. “Sustaining the military presence, the tempo necessary to have a strategic effect on Iran, it's difficult for the (US) navy to do this on a continuous basis,” said Paul Fraioli, a senior fellow for technology, geopolitics and strategy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

ENERGY SHOCK FOR ASIA One of the unintended consequences of the conflict has been the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global energy shipments. The disruption to shipping through the waterway has sparked a global energy crisis and spiked petrol prices in the US.

The impact has been particularly acute in Asia, where several economies rely heavily on oil and gas imported from the Middle East. The uncertainty over continued energy supplies could ultimately push some to reconsider where they source their energy from.

“We might see demand destruction,” said Petras Katinas, a research fellow in climate, energy and defence at the Royal United Services Institute. “That means that member countries in Asia, in Europe, they might say, ‘well because we are unsecured in terms of security of supply, we might try and find some alternative energy sources.

” TRUMP FACES POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES The prolonged war is also affecting US domestic politics. US President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to the lowest level of his presidency, with an overwhelming majority of Americans concerned that the war could drag on, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll concluded on Aug 17.

Just 33 per cent of respondents said they approved of Trump’s performance in the White House, while 64 per cent disapproved. With the US midterm elections due in November, the conflict could become a significant test for Republicans as they fight to retain control of the House of Representatives.

Even if a truce agreement is reached in the near term, issues surrounding Iran – including its control over the Strait of Hormuz, its role in regional politics and Washington’s evolving relationship with its Gulf allies – are likely to resurface and “continue to give bad headlines for the Trump administration”, said Fraioli.

US TURNS TO ECONOMIC PRESSURE With military action failing to produce a decisive outcome, Washington is also attempting to tighten Iran’s economic isolation. Last week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened sanctions on countries that refuse to cut economic ties with Iran.

“We are going to hold everyone accountable, and this is economic asphyxiation of this regime,” he said, adding that countries that do not join US sanctions would “share” in Iran’s isolation. With China remaining Iran’s main trading partner, that strategy carries risks of its own.

Hours after the US sanctioned dozens of Chinese entities and threatened to target an unspecified “major financial institution” over its dealings with Tehran, Beijing said its relationship with Iran “should not be disrupted or undermined”. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian warned that China would take “all necessary measures” to safeguard its interests.

“There's a very delicate trade truce between the US and China,” said Reuters trade and global economy correspondent David Lawder. “Taking action against a major Chinese bank that would cut them off from the international financial system would be pretty detrimental to that relationship and could cause some serious problems,” he added.

Washington’s ultimate objective remains unresolved six months on: ensuring that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. Iran still possesses enriched uranium, and efforts to reach a deal on its disposal remain elusive.

Donald Trump has resorted to posting embarrassing AI-generated videos suggesting his war on Iran is going well after his own military leaders warned against expanding operations in the Middle East. The 80-year-old president posted two fake videos on Truth Social showing a military attack on Kharg Island, Iran’s oil export hub, which handled around 90 percent of the country’s oil exports before the war broke out.

In one, Trump claimed it was being “blown to smithereens!!!” There has been no such attack on Kharg Island, but the cringe AI videos were posted after the U.S. carried out rocket launcher strikes on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran responded by attacking two U.

S. bases in Jordan as both countries fought each other for the first time since July. Trump’s desperate AI posting also came after a damning leak revealed that several U.S. military leaders had warned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth against continuing large-scale operations in Iran over fears that doing so would hinder the U.

S. military’s ability to respond to threats elsewhere. The Iran conflict has dragged on for six months, with no real end in sight. According to a classified Aug. 14 report known as the Secretary of Defense Orders Book (SDOB)—obtained by The Washington Post—leading generals and admirals fear that continuing to divert ships, aircraft, and stockpiles to the Iran war is unsustainable.

They also expressed concern about keeping around 50,000 troops on alert for months in case Trump orders increased attacks. One person familiar with the assessment said the general feeling among top military brass is that the Iran war has been “too much for too long.

” Another source added that while it is common for military leaders to assess risk around any conflict, the outlook regarding Iran is now “more dire” overall. It was also revealed that the leaders of the U.S. European Command, U.S. Pacific Command, and U.

S. Southern Command, along with the Navy’s top admiral, each responded with a “non-concur” to Hegseth’s orders to have troops remain in the Middle East into 2027. This means they do not agree with the orders but will carry them out nevertheless. The Post reported last week that Russia considers the U.

S. significantly weaker because of the Iran war and how much it has depleted its weapons stockpiles. It is feared that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use this as an excuse to launch an attack on a NATO country, believing that any U.S. response would be severely hindered.

Trump has been widely mocked for posting AI-generated videos about the Iran war that are not based in reality. Richard Ojeda, a former West Virginia state senator and retired United States Army major, wrote on X while sharing a screengrab of Trump’s “smithereens” post: “Donald Trump is fighting a war in VR while our troops are going without, our bases are being destroyed, and our munitions are depleting.

Pure buffoonery.” Author and geopolitical analyst Brandon Weichert added: “I’m telling you guys and gals here: Trump is getting ready to do something bats--t crazy--which is why the generals and admirals are leaking SDOB to the WaPo. They’re FREAKING OUT because it’s obvious that Trump and his team are going to make them do something nutty.

” The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

US forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island on Sunday, marking the first strikes on Iranian territory since late July, an official told Axios, Anadolu reports. The operation, which followed a month-long period of relative stagnation in direct military engagements, targeted systems allegedly being prepared to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil transit point.

According to the US official, American forces are “monitoring the area closely and remain prepared to protect the free flow of commerce” through the strategic waterway. The Strait of Hormuz narrows to just 39 kilometers (24 miles) between Larak Island and Oman’s Great Quoin Island.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said several fighters and civilians were killed and injured in the strike and vowed to respond. Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that preliminary information suggested it was a drone attack. READ: Iran war depletes US military stockpiles, limiting global deterrence: Report Further details regarding the outcome of the strike were not immediately available.

US President Donald Trump recently said that all mines had been removed from the Strait of Hormuz, and warned of a “zero tolerance policy” on new mine placement. He said Washington was utilizing “Space Force” technology to monitor the area with extreme precision.

Iranian officials have asserted that “no one except Iran knows the location” of the mines in the strategic waterway. Tensions between Tehran and Washington have remained high since the war began with strikes on Iran in late February. Although a memorandum of understanding was signed in June through Pakistani and Qatari mediation, the US began a two-week bombing campaign and reimposed a naval blockade in July after differences over navigation in the strait.

It has yet to be seen whether the latest strike represents a one-time operation or the start of a sustained new bombing campaign.