File image.
Hezbollah has destroyed a rare Ofek command vehicle of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) using a fiber optic-guided first-person view (FPV) suicide quadcopter.
The vehicle was targeted near the town of Bayada in southern Lebanon on May 3. It was at the time parked at a temporary deployment site. The drone directly hit the vehicle’s rare entrance, which was open. Based on this, it is safe to assume that it was fully destroyed.
The Ofek, first unveiled in 2018, is based on the Merkava Mk 2 main battle tank, with an improved armor package. It features a large, fixed superstructure on top of a modified Merkava hull and chassis.
The vehicle is equipped with a wide array of radio equipment, in addition to Elbit Systems’ advanced satellite communication system.
With these links to larger, overarching communications and data-sharing networks, Ofek can offer a secure and physically protected satellite uplink and local network relay.
It is unknown how many Ofek vehicles are currently in service with the IDF, but the number is likely extremely low. The vehicle likely costs several million dollars.
Hezbollah’s drone units have inflicted some serious losses on the IDF since the start of the United States-brokered ceasefire in Lebanon last month.
In just the last few days, the group has released videos showing three Merkava Mk 4M tanks, three Namer armored personnel carriers, and armored D9 bulldozer getting hit in different parts of southern Lebanon with fiber optic-guided FPV suicide quadcopters.
These drones have proven to be a gamechanger for Hezbollah. In addition to being cost-effective, the group — which lost all of its supply routes through Syria with the fall of the Assad regime more than a year ago — appears to be manufacturing these drones with ease, which is not surprising considering that their compliments are commercially available.
The IDF is reportedly developing a solution to counter these drones, but officials acknowledged that such a system will not be ready in the short term, nor will it provide a hermetic solution to the threat.
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