Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran’s proxy Hezbollah attempted to kill him and his wife in a drone strike on his house in the city of Caesarea on Saturday. Although there were no casualties in this incident, the incident once again highlighted the fact that although Israel has a highly advanced air defense system, it is not safe from drones.
Last week, Hezbollah launched a drone attack on a military base in northern Israel, killing four soldiers. At that time, a report in the New York Times described why drones from the Israeli air defense systems “Iron Dome”, “David’s Sling” and “Arrow” were difficult to stop –
Israel has the best missile detection and interception systems in the world, which can fly at speeds in excess of 1,000 miles per hour. But its radar systems find it more challenging to detect unmanned aircraft, including drones, which sometimes fly at speeds below 100 mph.
Drones are typically made of less metal and generate less heat than fast-moving rockets and artillery shells. Therefore, they are not always detectable. Enemy drones are sometimes mistaken for Israeli aircraft when seen in the sky. Many small private jets operate in Israel, flying low-altitude like drones.
Ofer Haruvi, the former head of the Israeli Air Force’s drone department, said: “All the systems we have, not only in Israel but in the Western world, are designed to protect the airspace from conventional fighters and missiles. We need to re- Design parts of air defense systems so that they can see, detect and track slow-moving targets.
US to help strengthen Israel’s air defense systems
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-rocket system destroyed most of the rockets fired from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. Its Arrow 3 interceptors are also quite powerful. The Arrow 3 was very helpful in deterring two major ballistic missile attacks launched by Iran in April and this month.
In order to further strengthen Israel’s air defense system, the United States said on Sunday that it will send another anti-missile system to Israel, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.
But experts say Israel needs to improve its counter-drone systems. Onn Fennig, head of drone detection system design company R2Wireless, said that drone detection systems mainly rely on radar, which sends signals and then uses the sound reflected from the signals to detect relatively large metal objects such as aircraft. Designed for detection.
The company’s owner, who works closely with the Israeli military, further said there are other options, including receptors. The receiver passively detects the radio waves emitted by the drone.
Feniger said all of these systems have their own strengths and weaknesses, and Israel needs to study all of them to create a more robust drone detection system.
“There is no magic solution that, once implemented, will solve all your problems,” he said. “But we need a radical change in mindset.”