According to a report from the American website “Breaking Defense,” specialized in military affairs, a series of drone shootdowns by Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Armed Forces n Yemen poses a challenge to the air superiority of both Tel Aviv and Washington.
The website explained that the groups have more enhanced air-defense capabilities and tactics than previously believed.
This development should drive military commanders in Israel and the United States to review their air operations plans in the region, experts tell Breaking Defense.
Given the recent success against such systems, experts believe the US and Israel may need to adjust their concept of operations while operating unmanned ISR platforms, the website reported.
In the same context, Farzin Nadimi, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, affirmed that “A growing credible threat against coalition medium altitude long-endurance (MALE) and even high altitude long-endurance (HALE) drones can indeed undermine [Israel and US] air dominance (being able to do whatever they want in the air) and jeopardize their ability to obtain timely intelligence.”
Shaan Shaikh, deputy director and fellow for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Missile Defense Project, told Breaking Defense that the air defense systems of the two groups may eventually “deter or decrease Israeli and US drone operations in Yemen and Lebanon”.
For his part, Bruce Bennett, senior adjunct international defense researcher at RAND Corporation, stressed that “Israel and the United States will need to gradually adjust their operating procedures. Those adjustments would likely involve some combination of operating in a different manner, enhancing electronic and other countermeasures, and trying to identify and suppress adversary SAMs.”
