As fighting continues between Israel and Hezbollah, the pro-Iranian armed movement is increasingly using fiber optic drones that the Israeli defenses struggle to intercept.
These are small, cheap, easy to handle devices. Yet, the explosive fiber optic drones now used by the Lebanese Hezbollah have already killed several times, challenging the defense of the Israeli army, one of the most powerful in the world. The pro-Iranian movement, which previously mainly launched rockets at Israeli territory, seems to prefer drones recently, as fighting continues in southern Lebanon despite the ceasefire in effect since April 17.
In just one week, two soldiers and a civilian contractor were killed by drones, according to the Israeli army – fiber optic devices, according to local media. Unlike traditional drones guided by GPS or radio – and therefore vulnerable to jammers – these models are connected to their launch site by a fiber optic cable, which can reach up to 50 kilometers in length.
The operator pilots the device in an immersive view as if they were inside, via a screen or virtual reality glasses, with no need for complex training. They are no more complicated to use than “a child’s toy,” summarized Orna Mizrahi, a researcher specializing in Lebanon at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, and “they can be bought anywhere,” including on online sales platforms.
Characterized as typical weapons of asymmetrical warfare between armed organizations and much more powerful armies, these basic yet formidable devices have shown that they can cause considerable damage. And they now pose a headache for Israel.
“To protect themselves, ‘we use all kinds of technologies that I can’t go into detail about. But it’s not foolproof, not as much as we would like,'” admitted a high-ranking Israeli military official this week to journalists, including AFP.
To counter these threats, the army could resort to sophisticated interceptor missiles, fighter jets, or helicopters, but financially, it is unsustainable in the long term to shoot down such inexpensive devices – costing just a few hundred dollars, or up to $4,000.
The new laser system developed to intercept short-range weapons such as rockets and drones could be a solution, according to Arië Aviram, “provided it is widely deployed.” As a sign of the deadlock, the Ministry of Defense issued a call for proposals on April 11 for “innovative technologies” that respond to the “threat of fiber-optic-controlled drones.”
In the meantime, and lacking a better solution, the army is resorting to “low-tech” methods: soldiers detect these drones using radar, or visually – even if it is often too late given their speed – and deploy nets, also used in Ukraine, as acknowledged by the previously mentioned high-ranking Israeli military official. Images posted on social media by Amit Segal, a well-known journalist in Israel, show military vehicles draped in protective nets similar to mosquito nets. A striking contrast to the technological standards that the army usually boasts about.
