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The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is ramping up its efforts to deal with the growing threat posed by Hezbollah’s fiber optic-guided first-person view (FPV) suicide drones.
Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir convened on May 10 a high-level discussion with defense and intelligence officials on the drone threat, with following Hebrew media reports indicating that no complete operational solution had been found by the IDF yet.
According to a Channel 12 report, Zamir told representatives from the Defense Ministry, the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (MAFAT), the Military Intelligence Directorate, IDF Ground Forces Command, and other technological units that there were no budgetary limitations on efforts to find solutions.
A separate report from the news channel noted that concerns over the drone threat were already being raised years ago.
In March 2018, a discussion in a Knesset subcommittee for examining and regulating drone activity warned that commercially available drones could eventually fall into the hands of “terror groups” and be used against Israel. This was years before FPV suicide drones became a proven concept.
“We are in an era where drones have become accessible, cheap, and easy to operate,” then-subcommittee chairman Haim Jelin reportedly said during the discussion.
“In Israel, we only deal with things after a disaster occurs,” Jelin warned then.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah is rapidly increasing its drone attacks. In recent days, the group began to target IDF deployment sites, in addition to surveillance and electronic warfare systems using FPV suicide drones. Video footage showing some of the attacks were released.
Initially after the start of the ceasefire which was brokered by the U.S. last month, the group used such drones only to target IDF vehicles.
FPV suicide drones are cost-effective, and Hezbollah appears to be manufacturing these drones with ease. Production is clearly increasing at a steady rate. This is of course not surprising considering that all of their components are commercially available.
Considering that these drones are completely immune to jamming, and that they have a very versatile flight profile, it is highly unlikely that the IDF will find a solution, even in the long term.
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