JERUSALEM \u2014 As Israeli troops are increasingly targeted by small, first-person-view (FPV) drones in Lebanon, the Israeli government has called on the nation\u2019s defense industry to quickly provide troops with effective defenses.<\/p>\n
The problem of FPV drones, often controlled through fiber-optic cables and therefore virtually jam-proof, has grown so large that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u00a0reportedly<\/a>\u00a0called an urgent meeting Wednesday to discuss solutions.<\/p>\n \u201cThe drone threat has become one of the most urgent operational challenges faced by maneuvering and defensive forces today,\u201d Michal Mor, CEO of Israeli defense firm Smart Shooter, told Breaking Defense. \u201cThese drones are accessible, inexpensive, highly maneuverable, and increasingly difficult to defeat, especially as fiber-optic-guided drones enter the battlefield and prove immune to electronic jamming.\u201d<\/p>\n FPV drones, and often grisly videos showcasing their lethality, have become ubiquitous in the battlefields of Ukraine, but former senior Israeli defense official Menahem Landau said they\u2019re relatively new to the Middle East, where he says Hezbollah has made use of them against the Israel Defense Force.<\/p>\n This \u201cnew capability,\u201d he told Breaking Defense, \u201cis cheap, and they train the right people to use this quite easily.\u201d Landau previously headed the Israel Ministry of Defense\u2019s UAV and Drones Branch and is now with the firm Caveret Group.<\/p>\n The Alma Research and Education Center, which covers security threats to northern Israel, published a report on May 11\u00a0noting<\/a>\u00a0that since the beginning of Israel\u2019s recent ground offensive in Lebanon, \u201cover 80 [FPV] explosive drones have been launched at IDF forces in recent weeks, of which about 15 hit and killed 4 soldiers and a civilian, and caused injuries to dozens of soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n The attacks by FPV drones on IDF positions have been\u00a0published<\/a>\u00a0by Hezbollah and circulated on social media, including a\u00a0video<\/a>\u00a0of an alleged\u00a0attack<\/a>\u00a0on an Iron Dome battery. In the first two weeks of May there have been daily drone\u00a0incidents<\/a>, although the IDF does not provide data on which are FPV drones.<\/p>\n IDF Res. Lt. Col. Sarit Zehavi, Alma\u2019s founder and president, said that, according to its recent report, about 20 percent of drones strike their intended targets. They are tactical, rather than strategic tools, she said \u2014 for now.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem will become strategic if Hezbollah can launch a few 10s [i.e swarms of dozens] of these at the same time; we saw that happen in Ukraine,\u201d she told Breaking Defense.<\/p>\n To protect against the threat, Landau said Israel will need a \u201cfull range of capabilities, such as radar and electro-optic and acoustic [sensors], and electronic warfare, and fuse them in real time at the edge where soldiers are on the front.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes it\u2019s a physical countermeasure such as wires where fiber optic cable falls on ground [and] is tangled and breaks and loses communication. Or you use a kind of net, a cage or go inside an armored vehicle,\u201d he said. The enemy operator has vulnerabilities, Landau notes, because the operator has to be tethered to the drone and focused on its movements. \u00a0<\/p>\n Like Sarit, he cautioned about the difference between the tactical threat and the larger picture. \u201cEveryone understands that fiber optic drones won\u2019t win the war,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s something you need to be aware of and give soldiers the understanding they can handle the threat.\u201d<\/p>\n As for helping the soldiers, on May 3, Netanyahu said that weeks earlier he had \u201cordered the establishment of a special project to thwart the drone threat,\u201d noting that the solutions will \u201ctake time.\u201d<\/p>\n In the meantime, like\u00a0Ukrainian companies before them<\/a>, a handful of Israeli firms are offering their tech.<\/p>\n Mor\u2019s Smart Shooter Smash fire control system, for instance, was\u00a0captured on video<\/a>\u00a0that circulated online, appearing to aid a soldier in taking out an incoming drone with rifle shots. The AI-aided system, mounted on the rifle, is designed to identify and track targets, allowing the soldier to fire when there\u2019s a high chance of hitting.<\/p>\n Smart Shooter pointed out that their systems are already being used \u201cby the IDF and by defense, homeland security, and border security forces worldwide, including in the United States, the UK, Germany, NATO member countries, and additional allied nations.\u201d (The company recently received a $10.7 million\u00a0follow-up award<\/a>\u00a0from the US Army.)<\/p>\n