Why Israel is Losing the Air Battle to Hezbollah 0 13

Soldiers are improvising as best they can. Military correspondent of the state channel "Kan" Itai Blumenthal reports on a new product of soldiers' ingenuity: Hezbollah drones are trying to confuse by using dummies in military uniforms, which are placed at a distance from positions as false targets. This is, of course, not military technology; it is desperation.

For decades, Israel has built its air defense against a specific threat: rockets, shells, large drones. This led to the creation of the "Iron Dome," electronic warfare systems, and signal jammers. The logic was simple: intercept the control signal - the drone will fall or fly off into nowhere. The fiber-optic drone completely breaks this logic. Instead of a wireless signal, there is a physical cable that connects the drone directly to the operator. Electronics cannot interfere with control via cable. Plus, such drones are significantly harder to detect with radars. Israel has entered the "era of exploding drones" - Hezbollah's fiber-optic FPV drones bypass Israeli air defense and lead to an increase in losses.

The main question is not technical, but managerial: why was this a surprise?

Fiber-optic drones have not been in the arsenal of terrorist groups since yesterday; Hamas militants used them during the breach of the Israeli border on October 7, 2023. The IDF has been late in addressing the need for effective protective measures. Moreover, allies had experience. Israel is currently lagging behind in response, although Ukrainians have invented numerous ways to combat such drones and even offered to share their experience. Military analysts have written about the "indifference" in the government and the IDF regarding this issue - and this indifference, they say, has already cost the lives of Israeli soldiers. By February 2026, when the war resumed in the north, Hezbollah had managed to accumulate several hundred FPV drones and train dozens of pilots and technicians, which ultimately seriously affected the pace of the Israeli army's advance in Southern Lebanon.

Israel found itself in a situation similar to that faced by Russia on the Ukrainian front. Hezbollah is actively manufacturing and using FPV drones filled with explosives, operated through a camera, delivering precise strikes. The operational range of Hezbollah's drones reaches 20 kilometers, meaning they can intercept not only forward positions but also supply routes, evacuation routes, and equipment in the rear. This is exactly what happened, for example, on April 26: in published videos, drones can be seen attacking soldiers and then striking near an IDF helicopter that was evacuating the wounded. In the IDF General Staff, they lamented that the constant use of FPV drones severely restricted the operational capabilities of the advancing group, and the renowned Merkava tanks were left defenseless against precise strikes from above.

Military analyst of "News 13" Alon Ben-David stated that the current campaign in Southern Lebanon increasingly resembles the events of 1985–2000, when Israel held a "security zone," and Hezbollah gradually developed guerrilla tactics against Israeli forces. That ended with a unilateral withdrawal of troops. Now history risks repeating itself with new weapons.

Israeli defense agencies have accelerated the development and testing of new means to counter FPV drones amid rising losses. The IDF stated that it recognizes the threat and is investing "significant resources" into improving defenses, developing more effective warning systems, and training soldiers. These are the right words. But while the army is saying them, soldiers are setting up dummies in uniforms and dying. The essence of what is happening is not that Hezbollah has acquired a wonder weapon. A fiber-optic FPV drone costs a few hundred dollars and is available to any workshop. The essence is that the most technologically equipped army in the region has faced a threat it has known about for years and has not prepared for.