After Ukraine, fiber-optic drones are increasingly being used in other conflicts and have lethal accuracy
The explosive-laden quadcopter flew over the rooftops of southern Lebanon, navigating with precision between bombed-out buildings and along dirt roads. The drone provided its operator with a clear image of the target: an Israeli tank with soldiers nearby.
At the top of the image, in white letters, were two words:
“PROMPT BOMB”
The quadcopter is a fiber-optic drone, according to experts, a weapon that Hezbollah has increasingly used with lethal precision. Drones are difficult to stop and even difficult to detect, providing their operators with a high-resolution view of the target without emitting any signal that can be jammed.
Drones are “immune to communications jams, and in the absence of an electronic signature, it is also impossible to discover the location from which they were launched,” writes Yehoshua Kalisky, a senior researcher at the Israel Institute for National Security Studies.
In a video produced by Hezbollah on Sunday, the quadcopter drone, weighing just a few kilograms, hits its target while Israeli soldiers appear completely oblivious to its approach. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the attack killed 19-year-old Sergeant Idan Fooks and injured several others. Hezbollah then launched more drones at a rescue helicopter that arrived on the scene to evacuate injured soldiers.
Fiber-optic drones are effective in their simplicity: instead of a wireless signal that controls the drone remotely, the fiber-optic cable connects the drone directly to the operator.
Because fiber-optic cables are very thin and light — virtually invisible to the naked eye — the cable can stretch up to 15 kilometers or more, an Israeli military source tells CNN, allowing the operator to remain at a safe distance while the drone provides a clear, first-person image of the target.
The Israel Defense Forces has leaned on its technological advantage to fight drone warfare by jamming the signals and frequencies used by operators to control the devices and intercepting them before they reach Israeli soldiers. However, without a signal, the IDF cannot electronically interfere with the control of fiber-optic drones and faces an even greater challenge in detecting the projectile.
“Apart from physical barriers such as networks, there is little that can be done”, says an Israeli military source. “It is a low-tech system adapted for asymmetric warfare.”
Fiber-optic drones first appeared in large numbers on the battlefield in Ukraine, where Russian forces used them to great effect, further extending their reach. Russia also managed to connect the drone’s fiber optic cable to a base unit, which in turn was connected to an operator. This additional connection distanced the operator from the drone itself, protecting it and making it even more difficult to hit. Russia’s ability to mass-produce drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), meant Moscow could cut off Ukrainian supply lines with drone strikes far behind the front lines.
Hezbollah’s targets are different. Israel operates in southern Lebanon so close to its own bases that there are no substantial supply lines to target. Instead, Hezbollah drone operators have targeted Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, within weapons range.
“This is a capable system that, in the right hands, with an experienced operator against a force not expecting such a drone attack, could be quite effective,” says Samuel Bendett, deputy senior investigator at the Center for a New American Security. “Even against a force that knows this and is taking precautions, it can still be deadly.”
Israel believes Hezbollah imports the civilian drones from China or Iran, the source said, and then attaches each one to a grenade or similar explosive device. The result is a nearly invisible and highly accurate weapon that allows Hezbollah to carry out targeted attacks – albeit on a small scale – against Israeli forces. China has already denied supplying weapons to any of the parties to the conflict and emphasized that it complies with its international obligations.
Although they have a limited ability to cause damage, these low-cost devices are a powerful weapon for Hezbollah.
“Hezbollah already has a very sophisticated arsenal of drones,” Bendett tells CNN. “And there are a lot of experienced people in different areas, including drones.”
For years, Hezbollah has relied on Iran’s financial and technological support to build a huge arsenal of rockets and missiles. Before the war in Gaza, Israeli authorities estimated that Hezbollah possessed approximately 150,000 rockets, including long-range and precision munitions. But, throughout the war, as a result of Israeli attacks on Hezbollah’s arsenal and rocket fire, Israeli authorities calculated that the group still retains only 10% of its rockets.
Unable to match the power or technology of the Israeli military, the Iranian-backed militia began employing asymmetric warfare tactics, just as Iran did against the United States and Israel.
The IDF has responded by using nets and other physical barriers – as seen in Ukraine – to prevent drones from hitting troops, but an Israeli military official acknowledges that this is an imperfect solution to a low-tech problem.
“It’s not foolproof – not as much as we’d like,” the official says. The IDF is working with the intelligence services to find more effective ways to combat fiber-optic drones, but the danger remains. “It’s a threat to which we are still adapting,” he says. The problem worsens when Hezbollah launches multiple drones simultaneously, potentially overwhelming a system that is not yet fully prepared to identify approaching drones.
“Hezbollah is learning quickly. They are trying to coordinate attacks, so it is a threat.”
