Hezbollah Increases Use of Fibre-Optic FPV Drones Against Israeli Targets

Hezbollah has increased its use of small first-person view (FPV) drones to attack Israeli forces, including models controlled by fibre-optic cables that evade electronic defences, BBC News reported. BBC Verify has geolocated 35 videos shared by the Lebanese armed group since 26 March.

The videos show strikes on Israeli soldiers, armoured vehicles and air defence systems in southern Lebanon and northern Israel. The Israel Defense Forces has so far been unable to develop effective countermeasures against the small drones, which can bypass detection systems, experts told BBC Verify.

The drones are made from commercially available and 3D-printed components and cost far less than the high-value targets they can damage. The use of cheap FPV drones became widespread during the Russia-Ukraine war and has changed modern warfare. Israeli media reports indicate four IDF soldiers and one civilian have been killed in FPV strikes, with dozens more injured.

The IDF told BBC Verify it recognises the threat from drones and is investing significant resources in improving defences. The military is developing more effective alert models and training soldiers to increase readiness and awareness of the threat.

The IDF has itself been using FPV drones for several years in southern Lebanon and against Hamas in Gaza, according to the Institute for National Security Studies. A military analyst and former Lebanese army general told BBC Arabic that the FPV drones can be undetectable by radar.

Hezbollah has used hundreds of them to disable armoured vehicles including tanks.

Many of the drones are flown using fibre-optic cable connections rather than radio or wireless signals, making them difficult to intercept with current Israeli electronic countermeasures. A security expert from King's College London told BBC Verify that fibre-optics render Israel's capacity to detect, jam and intercept drones largely irrelevant and makes finding the operator more challenging.

The expert said the impact includes Israeli troops having to move more cautiously, harden positions, use physical protective measures such as nets and cages, and devote more attention to immediate local defence. Hezbollah is most likely assembling the drones locally from commercially available components sourced from places like China at a cost in the range of $300-$500 each.

A senior investigator and weapons expert for the Centre for Information Resilience said these commercial parts are supplemented with components made using 3D printers. Tracing components has proven very hard because of how easily accessible they are and non-military in nature.

Most of these FPV drones carry an RPG warhead, of which there is no shortage in southern Lebanon.

One verified video shared on Thursday shows at least four FPV drones attacking an Israeli border outpost near Kiryat Shmona, targeting a series of military vehicles in sequence. At least two of them can be seen heavily damaged or destroyed in the clips.

BBC Verify has also tracked similar drone strikes in south Lebanon, including at least two strikes on 26 April in the town of Taybeh. The videos show soldiers being targeted, followed by a strike near an IDF helicopter that was rescuing injured troops.

Israeli media reported one soldier was killed and six others injured. The recent escalation in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began on 2 March, two days after the US and Israel launched air strikes in Iran. Following the death of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel.

Israel responded with widespread air strikes in Lebanon and a ground invasion of the south of the country. Lebanon's health ministry has said at least 2,896 people have been killed since the escalation began, including more than 400 since US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire in April.

The figures do not separate combatant and civilian deaths. More than one million people have been displaced in Lebanon. Israel says four soldiers and 18 civilians have been killed in the conflict.