Hezbollah Drones Family

Translated by Al-Ahed News, Al-Akhbar Newspaper

It is no more secret the extent of variety among the drones of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon. It is true that the enemy is speaking of information it has gathered, and so are the Western intelligence and even some Arab intelligence apparatuses. However, the Resistance still adheres to the “constructive ambiguity strategy” as it doesn’t disclose but what suits its plans.

In this context, the commander of the Islamic Resistance Air Force says “We have a various number of drones. Every category has its nature and job. And on the level of missions, there are drones that collect the data related to the battle. They are drones that have been previously deployed in the border area. However, the scope of their operation expanded. They have reached "Tiberias" [Tabariyya] [Al-Hassan Drone 2022], and “Asdod” [Southern “Tel Aviv”], in addition to what has been previously announced about the Ayyoub Drone in 2012.

During the Syrian war, the leadership permitted us to enter the Golan airspace several times. In the time of peace, we carried out intelligence missions, but with a certain depth. After Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, we adjusted our work style. When the Secretary General asked us to expand the scope of our operation, we did, but to the limit we can disclose, which is beyond beyond Haifa. Here we are speaking of the intelligence effort, which means working in day and night. We have still images and videos.”

The Jihadi leader added that the Islamic Resistance has drones that are tasked with “distraction”. “They could suddenly be shifted into assault drones or intelligence drones. The important thing is that they are in the airspace. We use them for goals related to other types of operation we would be about to do, especially that the enemy’s alertness happens to be at its highest. The enemy is aware that we are sending it drones with the aim of operation its ‘defense systems.’

However, due its high tension, the enemy doesn’t know how to deal with any drone that appears in front of it. They don’t know how to justify their mistakes. For example, when we targeted a gathering of enemy forces near ‘Elkosh’ settlement, the enemy gave funny justifications that embarrass it as an army. It claimed that Hezbollah penetrated and disrupted the detection system at ‘Meron’ Base. The enemy credited us with a big achievement regarding the failure of its ‘air defense’.”

Additionally, the Jihadi leader says that “There are drones that take part in compound operations, like the one in Arab Al-Aramshe. There is a building that belongs to the municipality, which was given to the army that used it instead of evacuated barracks and outposts. After monitoring it, the decision was made to use two “Almas”-type missiles that are equipped with cameras. The plan was that when the enemy soldiers assemble to inspect the damage, two drones attack, the first strikes the same target hit by the missiles, and the second targets a point we estimate that the soldiers will gather at. The operation was based on a very big intelligence effort, and it was carried out very precisely. We take into account that it is a village, and Hezbollah has been and will always be cautious about targeting civilians. Everybody knows that we had chances to strike soldiers, but as they were close to civilians we didn’t. We carried out same operations in ‘Elkosh’ and Al-Manara.”

The Air Force Commander points to that “There are distracting drones and offensive drones. There are also logistic drones [for transportation, throwing fliers, and transferring stuff to ‘the loved one’”], this is what we can disclose. Sometimes, we use more than one drone in the same mission. For example, we need an offensive drone, which at the same time has higher than it another drone which is filming.

There is also the offensive drone that launches projectiles at an identified target. The enemy knows that there are missiles which are lighter in weight and smaller in dimensions, which are smart and precise. We have the Sejjil offensive drone, which features special specifications. As for ranges, feel free to talk about everything. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said from ‘Kiryat Shmona’ to ‘Eilat’, and we execute this, we also tell him “Wherever you wish, it will be.” But if we keep in mind what our brothers in Ansarullah have done, who reached ‘Eilat’, ‘Tel Aviv’ and Haifa, we say that the enemy, in comparison with what the Ansarullah have done starting in 2015, we began before them, so the enemy must imagine what do we have!”

According to the Jihadi leader, “There is a type of hovering multi-copters. They are initially drones that we made using several types of engines. They can perform all missions. But the issue is different on the level of range and time. They can be operated for tens of kilometers, but they are highly effective in the direct clash with the ground forces. We still didn’t use them. A fighter can control this drone and run it. Additionally, the cost of manufacturing it is low. They could be made in places that are very close to the battlefield. It is considered a tactical weapon that the enemy fears from in an open war, as its effectiveness against the infantry forces is gigantic.”

The commander further mentioned that “The enemy has an army that is among the best in studying their enemy and learning lessons. It is rapid in the execution, and whenever a site is targeted, they take immediate measures. At the beginning of the war, the enemy withdrew its soldiers from the forefronts. There are sites where a few number of soldiers exists. They tended to choose new locations in the entire North to deploy the soldiers they brought. They used open areas such as valleys [20 to 30 troops carriers and armored vehicles with soldiers who are deployed in a wide playground]. And after our first operation, it distributed its soldiers under the trees. Every time, the enemy selects a new site. In some times, we explore a certain target, and when we return to strike it, we find that the enemy has changed it out of feeling the danger. It is an exhausting process for soldiers, especially those coming from the reservists.”

The commander explains that “Every drone has its ‘online’ clear targets, which means that we have set its identified mission. And there are also undecided ‘offline’ targets. This means that when the drone is in a certain mission, and during its operation it discovers a target that might be possible added, which means that we update the targets. Even the possibility of carrying out an offensive during the mission is available. Everybody can imagine that we can or cannot do everything, and this includes colliding with the enemy’s aircraft.

It is noteworthy that the enemy classifies our drones as ghost drones, which are capable of infiltrating and hiding from radars, and performing its mission without or before being discovered. Even the detection is not an easy task. The challenge here is not limited with radars. For example, we have low-print drones, with a high thermal print and a high voice, and their size makes them more apparent. Yet the enemy didn’t discover them due to the mixture of visual, thermal, and physical effort that hinders the enemy’s task. Hence, the occupation army involves all in the operation. And on the frontline, the enemy now has distributed phone numbers for settlers to call it whenever they hear a sound that would possibly belong to a drone. But we tended to a certain tactic and the operation scored an unmatched success.”

With respect to the weights of the warheads, the Air Force commander says: “They are various. They start with several kilograms, and can be added to an infinite limit. We are not speaking of tons, but our drones are capable of carrying very heavy explosive heads. Therefore, the enemy knows well from its experience in the past nine months, that we have different weapons that allowed us to reach the target. The enemy knows the meaning of our drones being able to carry a missile. The enemy knows that the issue is not about the weight, as there are operations which we carried out using heavy weights and scored high results… as for the control, the enemy says that our drones are equipped with a visual orientation head that allows controlling it remotely. Ok, what is the latest? The question now is for the enemy: What did you do to confront this challenge?”