The use of commercial drones equipped with explosives used by the Resistance in Gaza has exposed vulnerabilities in the much-boasted Israeli air and ground anti-air systems, Bloomberg said in a report on Tuesday.
The Israeli occupation entity has one of the largest fleets of UAVs in West Asia (Middle East), which it has often taken pride in.
However, the recent emergence of cost-effective commercial drone systems, like the ones employed by Hamas in the October 7 operation, is a growing challenge even to the most tech-advanced militaries in the world, the news site added.
According to the CEO of Heven Drones, the firm that supplies the Israeli army with advanced heavy drones, the war with the Resistance in Gaza has been a wake-up call to the most powerful armies around the globe.
“We have these huge drones, these UAVs, we have planes, our technology is much more advanced,” Bentzion Levinson said. “What this war did is that we realized that this is happening in our backyard, both on the defense and the offensive side.”
Al-Qassam's utilization of modified commercial drones for attacks, a strategy previously employed by Ukraine during the war with Russia, revealed a significant weakness in "Israel's" highly regarded air and ground systems.
As a result of the compromise of high-tech surveillance systems, thousands of Hamas fighters were able to breach the Gaza borders during Operation Al-Aqsa Floodusing trucks and paragliders.
Meanwhile, despite the entity upgrading its Iron Dome to counter drones, UAVs launched by the Resistance are still being able to infiltrate the system's network.
The success of the Hamas drone program raises increased concerns that non-state actors could use dual-use technology to create lethal weapons, making it challenging to monitor such sales, the report said. While military expenditures on cutting-edge technology continue to rise, basic equipment can enable less formidable actors to orchestrate destructive attacks.
Israeli startups and tech volunteers started responding to the threat of DIY kamikaze drone attacks on occupation troops in Gaza, the site added.
One initiative, the "Israel Tech Guard," was formed by tech workers from companies like Google and arms contractors like Rafael and grabbed the Israeli army's attention. They've developed an app that uses mobile phone cameras and audio systems to scan for drones in the sky, with a 3D-printed case for vehicle mounting. This technology is still undergoing field testing with no exact date for its employment.
In November, the Israeli army disclosed that it had equipped one soldier in each infantry unit with a handheld SmartShooter precision targeting system, which can be affixed to assault rifles, significantly improving accuracy when engaging moving targets like drones or enemy forces.
According to the report, many Israeli soldiers in Gaza have been relying on shooting down the slow-moving drones while they are airborne.
While all sophisticated and basic measures are being developed or employed by the entity, Hamas drone attacks remain an imminent threat, said Liran Antebi, a research fellow at the "Institute for National Security Studies" (INSS).
“It gives you the ability to use precise or guided munition, which is something that until several years ago, only very advanced countries could do,” he noted. “With a criminal mind and small equipment, you can do terrible things like the first attack of Hamas.”
In a significant reveal, Bloomberg reported that "Israel" had a system designed to counter drones on the Gaza border on October 7 but was not yet operational. It was supposed to be tested just a few days following the surprise operation, according to Sentrycs, which developed it.