This Hizbullah 'kite'

Date Posted: 12-Nov-2004

JANE’S DEFENCE WEEKLY – NOVEMBER 17, 2004

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Hizbullah UAV probes northern Israel
Nick Blanford JDW Correspondent
Beirut
and Alon Ben-David JDW Correspondent
Tel Aviv
Additional reporting by Robin Hughes JDW Deputy News Editor
London

The Islamic Resistance, the military wing of Lebanon’s Party of God, Hizbullah, has flown an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over northern Israel for the first time in what it says is a response to repeated overflights in Lebanese airspace by the Israel Air Force (IAF).

The UAV, called Mirsad-1 (Observer), crossed the Lebanon-Israel border on 7 November and flew over several Israeli settlements along the coast of Western Galilee, reaching the town of Nahariya, 8km south of the border, before returning. Security sources in south Lebanon say the flight lasted 20 minutes. Eye-witnesses in Lebanon say the UAV crashed into the Mediterranean Sea just north of Naqoura, the headquarters of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Hizbullah has denied that the drone crashed, saying it landed safely. The IAF air-defence network did not detect the UAV and was notified of its flight by civilian eyewitnesses. “We were not surprised by the use of a UAV by Hizbullah, but we were not ready to intercept it,” Lieutenant General Moshe Ya’alon, Israel Defence Force (IDF) Chief of Staff, told the Knesset defence and foreign affairs committee.

The IDF deployed a tight air-defence network of observations and batteries along the Lebanese border after a Palestinian insurgent succeeded in crossing the border using a hang-glider and attacked an IDF base in 1987. “Although we repeatedly warn of the threat of aerial penetrations from Lebanon, our forces failed to prevent this one,” an IDF source told JDW. Gen Ya’alon said that lessons were already drawn from the incident, but warned that the success might encourage Hizbullah to arm the UAVs with explosives and use them to attack targets in Israel. Israeli sources claimed that, now aware of the threat, the IDF’s air defences should have no difficulties in countering Hizbullah’s UAVs. For several months, Hizbullah has been seeking an alternative means of confronting IAF overflights. Its previous tactic of firing 57 mm anti-aircraft rounds across the border in response to the overflights was effectively neutralised last year when the IAF began bombing Hizbullah’s S-60 anti-aircraft batteries.

Earlier this month, Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah claimed that Israel had violated Lebanese territory 9,409 times since the IDF withdrew from south Lebanon in May 2000.

He said the Islamic Resistance was looking for a fresh means of restoring ‘equilibrium’ to the IAF overflights.

Hizbullah released footage of the Mirsad-1 passing over the border but has refused to disclose technical details of the UAV. The organisation says it will soon broadcast footage taken by the UAV over northern Israel.

According to the IDF, the Mirsad-1 is an Iranian-made Ababil-T-type UAV that was operated by Hizbullah personnel in the presence of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) instructors. According to IDF sources, the UAV was programmed for route before take-off and was equipped with a camera and a transmitter.

The sources said the twin-tailed Mirsad-1 is about 3 m long, has a 3 m wing span and flies at a speed of some 120 kt. It weighs about 80 kg and can carry a payload of 40 kg. The sources say the UAV flies at an altitude of 1,000 ft, although Hizbullah’s video footage and eyewitness accounts in Israel indicated the UAV was flying much lower, closer to 200 ft.

Regional analysts say Hizbullah’s priority will be to acquire a UAV capability for psychological purposes rather than gaining intelligence or using it as a weapon platform, although those two options remain a possibility for the future.

Iran’s UAV programme began after its 1980-88 war with Iraq. It has developed several reconnaissance and attack UAVs, including the Ababil and Mohadjer families. The Ababil-T is a short/medium-range armed UAV. Ababil UAVs can take off from pneumatic launchers fitted to Mercedes-Benz 911 trucks or by a portable rocket-launcher.

A senior Iranian official has admitted that Tehran supplied Hizbullah with the UAV, the London-based Arabic-language daily Al-Shark Al-Awsat reported on 10 November.

The paper quoted a senior official in the IRGC as saying that the UAV was one of eight Iran-produced drones donated by Tehran to Hizbullah in August.

Iran also supplied Hizbullah with surface-to-surface missiles that have a 70 km range, according to the report.

The official also said Iran had launched similar drones over Iraq to garner information on US military activity there.

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