A drone that flew over Israeli airspace for nearly an hour on Tuesday night highlighted persistent operational failures in Israel’s defense.
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) detected and tracked the drone, prioritizing the safety of civilians until its location could be confirmed.
While military officials say they are “closing the gap and achieving success,” defense industry officials warn that “we are only beginning to grasp the scale of the threat.”
Details of the incident
On Tuesday night, the IAF confirmed a suspicious drone entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon. All relevant systems were activated to detect, track, intercept and exploit lessons learned from the recent drone attack on the Golani Brigade training base. As a precautionary measure, people were ordered to evacuate a large area until the drone’s location could be determined.
complex challengesTracking and intercepting these drones poses a major challenge as they are manufactured in Iran. These drones were launched by Hezbollah from rugged and difficult-to-monitor terrain using mobile launchers and quickly entered Israeli airspace. UAV (Illustration) (Credit: SCREENSHOT/X)
Interception is further complicated by low radar signals and flying at low altitudes over populated areas, as the IAF must avoid endangering civilians or damaging infrastructure.
Significant operational gapsThis operational gap was tragically exposed on October 7th. Hamas operatives used paragliders to enter Israeli airspace unnoticed, land on Israeli communities, and carry out deadly attacks.
Initially, the IAF struggled to respond, but over time additional radars and sensors were deployed to improve detection and tracking capabilities.
While new interception methods are being developed, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continues to stress that “there is no airtight defense.” Many drones were intercepted, but the human casualties were severe.
The IAF’s intelligence wing, which is responsible for predicting unmanned aircraft threats, also failed to predict the scale of drone and paraglider attacks during Hamas’s “Black Saturday” raids, which were followed by drone attacks by Hezbollah.
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Long-standing structural defects
The unpreparedness of both the IAF and broader IDF to counter the growing drone threat has highlighted the longstanding problem of inadequate defense preparedness.
This type of war is already evident in conflicts such as the Syrian civil war and more recently the Ukraine-Russia conflict, both of which were sparked by Iranian drones that are also supplied by Hezbollah.
Security officials acknowledged that “the IDF and the Ministry of Defense are making significant efforts to bridge these gaps and make up for years of delays,” pointing to some operational successes.
But defense experts warn that real progress will only be seen in future conflicts, not current ones. These experts argue that the small defense industry needs to be involved, along with large corporations, and that some responsibility should be transferred to ground forces.
fill the gap
Naval Reserve officers have proposed expanding the missile boat fleet’s responsibilities to intercept unmanned aerial vehicles. The capabilities of these vessels could be important in countering threats from Lebanon and Yemen.
