(The National-Abu Dhabi) Thomas Harding - During the recent conflict, Israel's Iron Dome defense system was tested by a battery of drones designed and supplied by Iran, experts told The National. Israeli forces shot down at least six kamikaze drones launched from Gaza. At least one was shot down by an air-to-air missile from an F16, another intercepted by Iron Dome, while four were downed by "classified means." Israel also shot down an Iranian drone near the border with Jordan on Tuesday. It is understood that Iran will assess the attack methods to improve them for future conflict. Operatives from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps smuggled in components of their Ababil-2 unmanned aerial vehicle and taught Hamas to equip it with a 30 kg. warhead. It is programmed with GPS coordinates and satellite imagery to find its target. Alternatively, it can be guided visually to the target with a ground operator and camera. "With Iran's help, Hamas has developed quite a large number of not terribly expensive munitions, which can be sent to hit fixed targets at long range," said Justin Bronk of the Royal United Services Institute in London. The Israelis are now "putting a lot of money" into developing lasers and other high-powered microwave weaponry to shoot down drones, said Douglas Barrie of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Barrie said it may be only a matter of time before a kamikaze drone gets through. "It's a bit like the old IRA (Irish Republican Army) saying that 'you've got to be lucky every day, we've only got to get lucky once'."
2021-05-24 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive