Hezbollah Targets Israeli Iron Dome Batteries in Drone-Guided Attacks.

The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah recently released a video that seems to show a drone-guided artillery strike on an Israeli Iron Dome air defense battery, as reported by the NationalNews. Although it is unclear whether the target was damaged or destroyed, the footage shows artillery shells exploding near the site, followed by a cloud of dusty smoke.
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Hezbollah first launched Katyusha rockets to activate the Iron Dome system, then deployed a drone to destroy it (Picture source: Hezbollah Video)

This attack marks an advancement in the group's tactics in the conflict that has been ongoing for eight months with Israel, moving away from its expected war strategy against Israel, which involved saturating enemy territory with up to 100,000 mostly unguided and inaccurate rockets. Destroying a costly Iron Dome battery would represent a significant goal for the group, opening new avenues of attack into northern Israel and demonstrating the vulnerability of Israel's highly touted air defenses.

The use of drones to guide artillery fire has become a standard in modern military tactics, first used by American forces during the Gulf War in 1991. More recently, this tactic has been adopted by Ukrainian and Russian forces, with devastating effects on both sides. In its conflict with Israel, Hezbollah has adopted a range of new approaches, including attempts to destroy Israeli observation balloons, such as the $230 million Sky Dew blimp, which was destroyed on May 15, reducing Israel's reconnaissance capabilities. On May 16, Hezbollah also used drones to launch rockets, targeting an Israeli base in Metula and wounding soldiers.

Israel, on the other hand, also uses drones, such as the $5 million Hermes 900, for reconnaissance and strike operations in Lebanon. It also carries out airstrikes from manned aircraft and conducts daily artillery strikes into Lebanon. Hezbollah has shot down several Israeli drones using portable surface-to-air missiles.

The Iron Dome system is an advanced air defense designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and shells launched from 4 to 70 kilometers away. Developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, the system comprises three main elements: a detection and tracking radar made by ELTA, a control and command center, and Tamir interceptor missile launchers. Each Iron Dome battery costs about $50 million, with additional costs for each interceptor missile estimated between $40,000 and $100,000. Despite its high cost, the system is extremely effective, with a reported success rate that exceeds 90%, allowing it to protect populations and strategic infrastructure from projectile attacks.

In an interview with Israel's Radio North, Israeli Brigadier General Zvika Haimovich described the current conflict with Hezbollah as a "drone war". According to him, although drones are not the main element used by Hezbollah, the group nonetheless has significant capability to deploy them, thus exposing a weakness on the Israeli side. He highlighted a major concern regarding the potential use of a swarm of "dozens or hundreds of drones". This tactic could be comparable to Iran's April 14 attack, which involved low-flying drones, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles, in an attempt to overwhelm Israel's air defenses.