Tel Aviv: It is highly likely that an increasing number of Hezbollah’s short-range Grad rockets and other rockets have become precise guided weapons.
Three Israeli analysts – Yair Ramati, Yaakov Lappin and Tal Beeri have arrived to this conclusion in their special research. They have shared their assessments in the website of the Israeli Alma Research and Education Centre.
The three analysts write that since the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, began to share his vision for the proliferation of precise weaponry to Iran’s proxies about 14 years ago, Hezbollah has built up its force not only on the basis of the quantity of missiles and rockets, but also based on their quality and, more importantly, their precision.
“Today, more than ever, Hezbollah is advancing into the world of precision, as a kind of ‘substitute for air force,” the analysts emphasise.
According to the analysts, the precision revolution was first and foremost realised in Iranian ballistic missile development for long, medium, and short ranges, which in the past were conical (conical warhead – for aerodynamic improvement) only, and today almost all of them are equipped with steering wings, whether they are liquid or solid fuel missiles. Many of them now appear with four fins, allowing manoeuvring during atmospheric entry based on GNSS (GPS and GLONASS) and inertial guidance. Thus, precision levels between 10 metres to 50 metres, and even more precise than that, are achieved.
“Israel’s enemies have long ago entered the era of precision, as the cost of acquiring these capabilities continues to decrease. The combination of quantity and quality will be the challenge that Israel faces against Hezbollah’s arsenal of rockets and missiles, as well as UAVs,” the analysts point out.
Currently, the exact number of precise munitions in Hezbollah’s possession is unknown, according to the analysts. In the published research paper, the Israeli analysts highlight that according to various estimates, Hezbollah has an arsenal of between tens to a few hundred precise munitions.
“We estimate that Hezbollah has dozens of precise Fateh 110 missiles as well as several hundred precise munitions that include short-range rockets, cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles (in addition to UAVs),” the analysts conclude their assessment.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
