File image.
Hezbollah has released more videos showing its fighters targeting vehicles of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in southern Lebanon using first-person view (FPV) suicide quadcopter, in a sign of the group’s growing reliance on such drones.
The IDF launched a ground operation in southern Lebanon shortly after Hezbollah resumed attacks from the region in response to the American-Israeli war on Iran more than a month ago.
The operation has so far displaced more than 600,000 people to the north of the Litani River, located 20 to 30 kilometers away from the Blue Line separating Lebanon from Israel. The IDF aims to occupy this whole region and turn it into a security zone.
One of the videos released recently by Hezbollah shows an Israeli Humvee armored vehicle getting hit on March 25 by an FPV drone in the town of Meiss El Jabal.
Another shows two Merkava MK 4M of the IDF getting hit by FPV drones at the area of Wadi Al Uyun on March 26. The first tank was hit from the side, right in its tracks. The other was hit in the top of its turret, in the area between the gun and the gunner’s aiming sight.
One more video shows an attack with a single FPV drone on a building occupied by Israeli troops also in Wadi Al Uyun. It took place on March 28.
In another video, an Israeli Merkava MK 4M is seen getting struck by an FPV drone right in its rear door, which was open at the time. The same video also shows an attack with another FPV drone on an Eitan armored fighting vehicle . Both strikes took place close to the town of Rachaf.
Hezbollah first used FPV drones against the IDF on a very limited scale during the confrontation that broke out as a result of the war on the Gaza Strip. However, the group is now using such drones in a much more extensive way.
The group has been documented using drones guided via traditional two-way radio links, and others equipped with jamming-proof fiber-optic cables.
The latest footage indicates that Hezbollah fighters are gaining skills in operating FPV drones. However, it does not appear that the IDF is prepared to deal with the threat. Aside from equipping some of its vehicles with cages, the military has done very little to counter such drones.
Moreover, the Merkava MK 4M Trophy active protection system, designed to counter anti-tank guided missiles, seems incapable of detecting or intercepting FPV drones.
The threat posed by Hezbollah drone units will grow as the group’s fighters get more real combat experience. The IDF will face a serious challenge, even if it manages to occupy all of southern Lebanon.
With an average range of ten kilometers, and the ability to reach targets as far as 30 kilometers in some configurations, FPV drones will allow Hezbollah to impose fire control over the entire region, from north of the Litani.
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