Lebanon’s Army is reporting that they opened fire Wednesday night against two of three Israeli drones who violated Lebanese air space at the southern border. This was just days after Israeli drones had carried out attacks in Beirut.
The newly raiding drones never got to carry out any such attack, as the
military reported that all the drones returned to Israel immediately
after the shots began being fired. Israeli officials did not respond to
the operation.
This is, however, in keeping with Lebanese President Michel Aoun’s
position on the weekend Israeli attacks, which he said amounted to a
declaration of war. He promised Lebanon would defend itself in the
future, and they appear to have chased off Israel’s forces in this case.
Lebanon’s military does not have substantial anti-aircraft capabilities,
and probably couldn’t prevent Israeli airstrikes if they were
determined to carry them out. At the same time, the use of low-cost
drones seems to be at least in part preemptable for the Lebanese Army.
S 400… Look into it.
“The newly raiding drones never got to carry out any such attack, as the military reported that all the drones returned to Israel immediately after the shots began being fired.”
The drones are like the IDF. They don’t like anyone shooting back at them. Time to call Uncle Sam.
About time. Should have been doing this for the last 13 years. Should have demanded antiaircraft capability from Russia or Iran. Hezbollah has it but can’t use it until there’s an actual war because it would start the war. But the official Lebanese state can.
Actually I expect Israel to just go back to using jets to bomb things. Not sure why they bothered with drones unless it was to minimize the “blame” for starting the war with Hezbollah if Hezbollah had responded immediately (that and the low cost and deniability of drones.)
The Russian Pantsir anti-aircraft system would be a perfect fit for Lebanon. The Syrians knock down Israeli drones with it on almost a weekly basis. The S 400 would be overkill and way too expensive.