What we learn about Hezbollah’s weapons arsenal amid fears of conflict with Israel

It has obtained massive shipments of rockets and drones from Iran, its principal patron, and has extra lately begun to supply its personal weapons. The group additionally boasts air protection capabilities, which most militias don’t have.

The group’s arsenal consists of guided and unguided rockets, antitank artillery, ballistic and antiship missiles, in addition to explosives-laden drones — portending a fancy, multi-front battle that would attain far into Israeli territory.

Analysts estimate Hezbollah has between 130,000 and 150,000 rockets and missiles, greater than 4 occasions as many as its ally Hamas was believed to have stockpiled earlier than the conflict in Gaza. And the Lebanese group says it instructions greater than 100,000 troopers, nicely over double the high-end estimates of Hamas’s prewar preventing power.

Most of Hezbollah’s weapons are lower-grade, unguided munitions, which might threaten Israel’s aerial protection techniques if unleashed in massive numbers. Much more regarding for Israel are precision munitions the group has mentioned it possesses.

Hezbollah retains a decent lid on its arsenal, leaving weapons consultants to guess concerning the full extent of its capabilities. A lot of what’s publicly recognized comes from statements by the group, and its chief, Hasan Nasrallah, who says his fighters have solely used “a portion of our weapons” in escalating assaults on northern Israel since Oct. 8.

Israel’s army has retaliated with intense strikes on Lebanon, principally within the south, utilizing fighter jets, tanks, Hermes drones and white phosphorus munitions.

Tens of 1000’s of civilians have been displaced on each side of the border.

A minimum of 94 civilians and greater than 300 Hezbollah fighters have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, in line with figures compiled by The Washington Put up. The assaults have triggered $1.5 billion in damages and have destroyed round 1,700 buildings, the Lebanese authorities estimates.

Israeli officers say Hezbollah assaults have killed 18 troopers and 12 civilians. They’ve additionally broken a whole bunch of houses and ignited fires that burned greater than 40,000 acres.

Hezbollah first began hitting northern Israel a day after Hamas-led militants stormed the nation and killed some 1,200 individuals. The group has mentioned it’ll proceed preventing till Israel agrees to a cease-fire in Gaza.

Hezbollah has used totally different short-range missiles and rockets, at first concentrating on tanks and different technical tools close to the border earlier than progressing to assaults on army barracks and bases.

On Nov. 11, Nasrallah revealed Hezbollah was utilizing Burkan rockets. An improvised rocket-assisted munition that may be simply assembled, the Burkan has change into a “signature weapon of Iran-supported teams within the area,” in line with Fabian Hinz, a protection and army analyst on the Worldwide Institute for Strategic Research.

The Alma Analysis and Schooling Middle, an Israeli assume tank, says the weapon might be fired from a floor launcher and might trigger “in depth destruction” as much as 500 toes from the purpose of influence.

Gen. Mounir Shehadeh, a former Lebanese authorities coordinator to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, mentioned the Burkan was first used and examined by Hezbollah in Syria — the place Nasrallah deployed fighters to prop up President Bashar al-Assad through the nation’s civil conflict.

Nasrallah additionally revealed in November that the group was utilizing Katyusha rockets. Initially made by the Soviet Union and copied by Iran, they’ll journey 12 to 24 miles and are fired in a collection.

Though they’re unguided, Hinz says Hezbollah “can fireplace plenty of them as a result of they’re low-cost and, till sure ranges, they work.”

In an interview with Hezboallah’s Al-Manar TV in early July, an artillery officer, recognized as Hajj Muhammad Ali, talking together with his face blurred and voice altered, mentioned the group is able to firing 100 Katyushas at a time from truck-mounted launchers.

Iranian-made Raad rockets have been utilized by Hezbollah in a lethal assault on the Israeli port metropolis of Haifa through the 2006 conflict, however haven’t been unleashed but throughout this spherical of preventing.

In January, after Israel killed high commander Wissam Tawil, Hezbollah began showcasing extra refined rockets, together with the Iranian-made Falaq mannequin. This was adopted by camera-equipped Almas weapons, guided antitank missiles that may pierce heavy armor.

Bigger guided ballistic missiles, just like the Fateh 110, current a better risk, with a spread of as much as 185 miles, probably placing Tel Aviv, and even Jerusalem, within the crosshairs. Related missiles have been utilized by Iran in an unprecedented — however well-telegraphed — aerial assault in opposition to Israel earlier this yr, giving the Israeli army time to intercept them. It’s unclear what influence they may have if launched from throughout the border in Lebanon, particularly in massive numbers.

Nasrallah mentioned in 2018 that Hezbollah possesses precision-guided munitions (PGMs), however the group has by no means examined or showcased them in public. Extra lately, in 2022, he claimed Hezbollah has the flexibility to “rework our rockets … into precision missiles” with the assistance of Iranian consultants.

Analysts say he might be referring to one thing just like the Spice kits the USA offers to Israel to retrofit “dumb bombs” into precision munitions.

PGMs are simpler as a result of they “they’re geared up with lively seekers,” mentioned Shaan Shaikh, a fellow on the Middle for Strategic and Worldwide Research and deputy director of its Missile Protection Undertaking.

“Nasrallah has talked about it, the [Israel Defense Forces] has raised considerations. … However it’s laborious to say something definitive with out proof,” he added.

Hezbollah is secretive about its arsenal, Hinz mentioned. It took 13 years for the group to disclose that it used a C-802 missile to sink an Israeli ship in 2006.

Antiship missiles may be used to hit offshore oil rigs, particularly in Israel’s Leviathan gasoline subject — a goal the group alluded to in a video final month.

Hezbollah has a big fleet of drones at its disposal, various in measurement, form and functionality.

Based on official statements, the group first began utilizing explosive-laden drones on Nov. 2 in an assault on an Israeli military put up within the Golan Heights, footage of which was later launched on its Telegram account. The IDF mentioned two troopers have been injured.

Hinz says the kind of drone used on this and different assaults have been almost certainly modeled after the Iranian Ababil-T drone, which the Alma Analysis and Schooling Middle says can journey about 75 miles with practically 90 kilos of explosives.

In mid-Could, after Israeli forces invaded Rafah, in southern Gaza, Hezbollah unleashed a extra superior model that may fireplace two rockets and explode upon influence. The unmanned aerial automobile was first utilized in a Could 16 assault on an Israeli military garrison close to the border, which injured three troopers, the IDF mentioned.

Though Iran is Hezbollah’s principal arms provider, the group has change into extra self-reliant in recent times. “At the moment, we in Lebanon, and for a very long time, have begun manufacturing drones,” Nasrallah mentioned in 2022, a declare he reiterated in June.

Hezbollah has additionally used business drones for reconnaissance, and to check for gaps in Israel’s aerial defenses. In late June, a drone flew undetected over Haifa for hours, recording footage of strategic websites. Alma believes it was an Iranian-made Hudhud-1 UAV; Hezbollah has not confirmed the mannequin.

It’s uncommon for non-state actors like Hezbollah to have air protection capabilities, signaling the extent of the group’s preparedness for conflict.

Hezbollah has used surface-to-air munitions, most notably the Iranian-made 358 antiaircraft missile, to shoot down Israeli drones, in line with Hinz.

On not less than two events, the group additionally claims to have used extra refined munitions — doubtless the Iranian Sayyad-2C, Hinz mentioned, a radar-guided missile that may attain targets at practically 90,000 toes — in opposition to Israeli fighter jets, forcing them to retreat.

Such capabilities might current a singular, and strange, problem to Israel’s air superiority. “Hezbollah is much better geared up than Hamas,” Shaikh mentioned.

In early June, in response to the killing of a senior commander, Hezbollah lobbed 150 rockets and 30 drones in a single barrage, the biggest such assault on Israel from the north. On Thursday, after one other Israeli airstrike on a Hezbollah commander, the group upped the ante once more, firing greater than 200 rockets.

In an all-out conflict, these so-called “saturation assaults” — by which a whole bunch of small rockets are launched on the identical time — might overwhelm Israel’s Iron Dome.

“They’ve already spent lots of Iron Dome interceptors through the conflict in Gaza,” Hinz mentioned. “What number of have they got left?”

The Fateh ballistic missiles may be unleashed in salvos, consultants say, elevating different important questions on Israel’s stage of preparation.

“How efficient are David’s Sling and Arrow interceptors in opposition to these missiles?” Shaikh questioned, referring to Israel’s protection techniques for medium- and long-range missiles. “Can the IDF detect, observe and fireplace on these missiles whereas they’re being prepped for launch?”

“There’s so much we don’t know.”

Lior Soroka in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.