File image.
Hezbollah’s drone units are inflicting some serious losses on the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), especially when it comes to armored vehicles deployed within the so-called “security zone” in southern Lebanon.
The group has been targeted Israeli armored vehicles using first-person view (FPV) suicide drones on a regular basis since the start of the ceasefire, which was brokered by the United States. Most of the drones being used are guided via fiber-optic cables, which means they are completely immune to jamming.
In recent days, Hezbollah released several videos showing successful drone strikes, including one from April 22 that targeted what appears to be an M577 Mugaf command post carrier deployed at an IDF artillery post close to the town of Biyyadah.
Two more strikes from April 27 and 28 targeted two Merkava Mk 4M main battle tanks near the town of Qantara. In one of the strikes, the drone hit a protective cage over the turret, but still the ammunition storage space was penetrated and exploded, very much killing the tank.
Another strike targeted a Humvee armored vehicle in Biyyadah on April 29. The vehicle was likely destroyed, and it is possible that two additional ones parked right to it were also damaged.
Two more strikes from April 30 targeted Namer armored personnel carriers near the town of Bint Jbeil. Both carriers got hit in their rear door ramps, the weakest point.
In face of this new threat, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last week that he had ordered a “special project” to confront Hezbollah drones, noting that it “will take time”.
The IDF later said that it was optimistic that a solution will be found to counter the threat of Hezbollah’s fiber-optic cable-guided FPV drones.
A military official said, according to The Times of Israel, that the IDF has been taking the threat seriously and has been working to develop and test systems to counter such drones. However, it is unlikely that any such system will be ready in the short term, nor will it provide a hermetic solution to the threat.
Still, the official claimed that the most effective way to counter the threat would be to target the drone operators and Hezbollah’s supply chain for the drones.
This is currently not possible due to the ceasefire, as Israel is only permitted to target imminent threats to troops in Lebanon, such as a drone operator actively piloting a drone. However, even if the IDF had a complete freedom of operation, it would be extremely difficult for it to locate Hezbollah’s drone operators.
FPV drones have given Hezbollah an unexpected advantage, and their threat will not be going away anytime soon no matter what Israel does.
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