An Israeli IAI Heron drone on display at the Paris Air Show in 2009. (Credit: Illustrative photo/CreativeCommons/CC BY-SA 3.0)
BEIRUT — Though Hezbollah has claimed to have shot down Israeli drones several times before, the party said for the first time on Saturday that it had fired towards a "Heron" drone.
In its statement, the party claimed that its air defense unit fired a surface-to-air missile toward the aircraft in the airspace of the Bekaa region at 4:40 p.m., "preventing it from achieving its objectives and forcing it to leave Lebanese airspace." Israel has not commented on this claim.
Since the beginning of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel on Oct. 8, in parallel with Israel's war on Gaza, Hezbollah said it has shot down and captured half a dozen Israeli surveillance drones. Among them were Hermes 450, Hermes 900 and SkyLark UAVs. For its part, Israel has confirmed that five of its Air Force drones were downed by surface-to-air missiles while operating over Lebanon.
Hezbollah operatives usually disassemble the drones to study their components, two party sources told Reuters. Israeli drones have assassinated several Hezbollah members, including the party's top military commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut's southern suburbs.
Heron drone
The Heron drone is a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) produced by Israel's major aerospace and aviation manufacturer Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The drone can operate at altitudes of up to 10 kilometers with a flight endurance of 45 continuous hours.
According to IAI, the Heron drone, which is "operated by customers worldwide in strategic, tactical and homeland security missions," can execute "complex intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and combat-proven reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions over varied terrains, including mountains, forests, jungles, swamps, maritime environments, or urban areas."
IAI adds that the drone can carry out missions extending "over 1,000 km from its operating base" and operate in a "stand-off mode, allowing users to conduct operations from a safe distance, beyond the reach of enemy anti-aircraft weapons."
According to IAI, "this capability ensures that the Heron can continue and provide real-time intelligence collection even in the presence of enemy air defenses." It also adds that the Heron drone is "equipped to perform beyond line-of-sight operations and special operations and is exclusively dedicated to performing naval operations for the Israeli Navy.
Heron TP
An advanced version of this drone, the Heron TP, is a drone that, aside from executing the ISTAR missions which are also carried out by the regular Heron, can also "handle multiple missions and payloads simultaneously," according to IAI.
Payloads refer to the weight carried by the aircraft, which can include sensors, surveillance systems as well as armaments. However, IAI did not specify whether Heron and Heron TP drones carry armaments.
The Heron TP can carry payloads "exceeding 1000 kg" and reach an altitude of around 13.72 km (Around 3 km more than the regular Heron drone). In its description of both types of Heron drones, IAI did not specify whether they are also used to carry out airstrikes or if they are used just for surveillance purposes only.
It is unclear whether Hezbollah fired a missile at the regular Heron drone or the more advanced one.
After the beginning of the war between Hamas and Israel back in October, Germany gave Israel the green light to use two Heron TP combat drones against Hamas. Berlin had leased five of these drones from IAI and two of them were still deployed in Israel for training German drone pilots when the war broke out.