On Friday, Hezbollah published a video showing an FPV drone impacting a Merkava tank. Though the group has posted several such videos beginning in March, Friday was the first that included follow-up footage from a nearby recon drone, showing the tank’s ammunition detonating and blowing up the vehicle. Though Hezbollah has claimed to have destroyed several Merkava tanks with FPV drones in the past, this is the first confirmed example with evidence.
Notably, the tank was destroyed despite the FPV drone feed showing it hitting the anti-drone protective cage on top of the turret, highlighting a major vulnerability.
The tank was stationary when it was hit, and no crew members were seen exiting the vehicle. It’s unknown if anyone was inside at the time of the strike.
The Merkava has a reputation as one of the most well-armored tanks in the world. However, the destruction of similarly armored tanks such as the U.S. M1 Abrams, German Leopard 2 A7, and British Challenger II in Ukraine makes their destruction less of a surprise.
FPV drones were revolutionized in the Russia-Ukraine war, with both belligerents shifting their focus to the weapon in 2024. Both armies have produced millions of FPV drones each in the last two years alone.
The continued improvements of the drones have created a several-mile-wide kill zone all across the front in Ukraine, with drone operators hunting down any vehicles or soldiers caught in the open. The small, fast-moving, and agile drones are notoriously difficult to shoot down through kinetic means.
While Hezbollah hasn’t recreated this level of FPV drone proliferation, reflecting its poorer supply lines, it has helped change the calculations of Israeli militia commanders, who have been unable to fully counter their use so far.
FPV drones have been used by Hezbollah in a limited capacity beginning in September 2024, but the current war has seen their use expanded significantly. While the limited number of FPV drone strikes in the 2024 war mainly targeted light vehicles and equipment, the new strikes have targeted tanks, armored vehicles, and soldiers.
The past week has seen some of the most effective usage of FPV drones by Hezbollah, with the Friday tank kill serving as the coup de grace. Hezbollah FPV drones killed Israeli Sgt. Idan Fooks and a northern Israel resident, Amer Hujeirat, over the past week, and wounded many more. A single FPV drone strike on Thursday wounded 12 Israeli soldiers when it hit an armored cargo vehicle, engulfing it in flames.
These FPV drone strikes have come despite a ceasefire reached by the governments of Israel and Lebanon, which was expanded last week. Prominent Hezbollah Parliamentarian Ali Fayyad said last week that the party “firmly rejects” the ceasefire.
The Friday strike on the Merkava tank was likely carried out by a fiber-optic FPV drone, which bypasses electronic defenses by connecting the drone directly to the operator through a thin wire.
The increased use of FPV drones has triggered a panic among some Israeli commanders, who warn that point defense is no longer adequate to counter the threat. Senior Israeli military officers told Ynet News that the new threat necessitated an expansion of the war, with a concentration of strikes north of the Litani River to hit drone supply chain centers in the north.
A senior Israeli military official who recently returned from Lebanon told the War Zone that with the new drones, Israel faces “a threat without a clear solution.”
“What’s been shown in the video seems more like an experimental concept rather than something that is already operational in the field,” he said.
NEW HEZBOLLAH FPV DRONE DANGER CAUSES ALARM IN ISRAEL
“In practice, forces are using various improvised solutions — fishing nets, camouflage nets, even soccer nets, along with drills involving small-arms fire at drones,” the official said. “However, I personally haven’t seen the specific net system mentioned being used on the ground yet.”
The fact that the drone destroyed the tank despite hitting the Merkava’s reinforced anti-drone protection cage bodes poorly for the more DIY solutions seen on social media.
