‘Israel’ tested over 100 countermeasures against Hezbollah drones with little effect: report

‘Israel’ has tested more than 100 countermeasures against Hezbollah’s fiber-optic first-person-view (FPV) drones, yet the cheap, hard-to-detect weapons continue to pose a serious threat to ‘Israeli’ troops operating in southern Lebanon.

According to a report on Hebrew media, Hezbollah has claimed more than 70 explosive-drone attacks since March.

Fiber-optic FPVs have become the group’s primary weapon against ‘Israeli’ forces since a ceasefire took effect in mid-April.

These small drones, often costing just $300–$400 each and assembled in workshops in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, are controlled via a thin fiber-optic cable rather than radio signals.

This makes them largely immune to electronic jamming and difficult for conventional radar and air-defense systems to detect.

Overnight Friday, an explosive drone struck an ‘Israeli’ combat engineering force, seriously wounding an officer and two soldiers.

One soldier later improved to moderate condition, while the other two remained seriously wounded.

In response, the ‘Iusreli’ military claimed it struck Hezbollah targets in Nabatieh and Ansar, killing two senior commanders, including a Radwan Force battalion commander and a Badr unit leader involved in drone operations.

‘Israeli’ officials have acknowledged the challenge for months.

The military and defense companies have evaluated over 100 detection and interception systems, with some advancing to operational trials.

These include the Iron Drone Raider system, which uses radar and net-firing interceptor drones, new detection kits intended to give troops a few seconds of warning, protective mesh netting, shotguns with fragmenting rounds, and experimental counter-drones that ram, explode near, or net enemy aircraft.

Despite these efforts, effectiveness remains limited.

Troops have reported spotting drones only seconds before impact, and systems such as the Iron Drone Raider have shown insufficient results in field use.

Passive measures like netting over vehicles and positions, adopted in part from Ukrainian battlefield practices, provide partial protection but are not a complete solution.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in May that he had ordered a special project to neutralize the threat: “It will take time, but we are on it. We will continue to ensure Israel’s superiority in every arena.”

‘Israeli’ military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has similarly stated that “the drone threat is a challenge, but we will overcome it,” citing ongoing operational and technological solutions.