These small drones, armed with an explosive charge, are now guided by fiber optics, with a cable of several kilometers, “as fine as a hair,” according to Yehoshua Kalisky, a researcher at the Israeli security institute.
While the ceasefire has been in effect in Lebanon since April 17, the Israeli army evacuated 15 villages in the south on Thursday, April 30, as a soldier died after a drone strike. Two days earlier, a subcontractor was also killed while operating construction equipment. Finally, another soldier was killed the previous week. This is because Hezbollah now daily uses drones guided by fiber optics.
Traditional drones posed serious problems for the Israeli army. “It’s very complicated to intercept them,” explains Yehoshua Kalisky, a researcher at the Israeli security institute. “They fly at a speed between 150 and 200 km/h. Any airplane or helicopter goes much faster, so it’s difficult to intercept them.”
These small drones carry an explosive charge of a few kilograms. They are now guided by fiber optics, with a very thin cable of several kilometers connecting them to the operator.
In addition to being difficult to intercept, they are now almost undetectable. “The communication system via fiber does not use waves in the air. You cannot cut this connection unless you can break the cable. But you don’t have scissors. This cable is as thin as your hair.”
Yehoshua Kalisky admits that the army is facing a new challenge, even though, he adds, “you don’t win a war with five-kilo explosive charges.”
/2026/04/30/69f3be82d9e03739186619.jpg&description=Its+very+complicated+to+intercept+them%3A+Hezbollahs+fiber){kind=link}