Hezbollah's drones pose ‘real challenge’ to Israel air defences

Suicide drones launched by Lebanon’s Hezbollah group represent a daily threat for the Israeli air defence system, which has failed to intercept a majority of them since 8 October.

The Israeli army admitted yesterday that the drones used by Hezbollah constitute “a threat that has no magic solutions”, adding that “the response to this threat is far from being precise,” meaning the success rates of intercepting Hezbollah’s drones are far from “high”, according to a report by Israeli Army Radio.

Intercepting Hezbollah drones is more difficult than intercepting rockets and missiles, the army explained.

On Monday the Israeli army failed to intercept four drones launched by Hezbollah, which successfully reached their targets in northern Israel, exploded and caused fires.

Army Radio reported that the difficulty of intercepting Hezbollah drones is affected by several factors, most notably: the drones’ size, its travel time before reaching its target, and the terrain of the targeted sites.

The army has been working to draw lessons from drone attacks carried out in Ukraine and Saudi Arabia in order to develop additional technological means, it added.

WATCH: Hezbollah hits Israel’s Iron Dome