{"id":32048,"date":"2023-10-18T14:18:12","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T14:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2023\/10\/18\/hamas-drones-helped-catch-israel-off-guard-experts-say\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:43:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:43:38","slug":"hamas-drones-helped-catch-israel-off-guard-experts-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/robotics\/2023\/10\/18\/hamas-drones-helped-catch-israel-off-guard-experts-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Hamas drones helped catch Israel off guard, experts say"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MILAN \u2014 The use of commercial drones in the Hamas terror group\u2019s Oct. 7 attack on Israel is the latest example of how relatively low-tech warfare can catch sophisticated armies flat-footed, according to analysts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Footage published by Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas\u2019 military wing, showed that during the initial attacks that killed hundreds of Israeli civilians and prompted aerial bombardments of Gaza in return, fighters used armed drones<b> <\/b>to attack different Israeli military targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One video shows a quadcopter hovering above a communications tower near the Gaza border fence before releasing an explosive device on generators seconds later. Another one appears to show the same type of munition blowing up a machine gun turret on an Israeli Defense Forces\u2019 observation post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While drone tactics have become a staple of modern warfare, commercially available models have leveled the playing field for groups like Hamas, Raphael Cohen, director of the strategy and doctrine program at Rand, told Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ve seen other terrorist groups use different sorts,\u201d he said. Lebanese militant group \u201cHezbollah notably infiltrated Israeli territory a few years back and ISIS used a primitive drone to attack U.S. troops and so on,\u201d he added, using the acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria group. \u201cGiven the plethora of hobby and commercial <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/unmanned\/\">drones<\/a> out there, you have to expect Hamas has and will use this capability going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While experts say it\u2019s too early to talk about a large increase in the number of drones Hamas uses, they noted the initial attacks may have been their most advanced operation to date in disrupting infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI don\u2019t know if Hamas is using drones more but they used them in a very sophisticated way in this case that has probably not been seen before,\u201d said Mark Cancian, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.\u201d It used drones as part of a combined arms attack, where the platforms struck watchtowers and video cameras to allow ground forces to move ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That kind of synchronization requires a lot of planning and training, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yaakov Lapin, research associate at the U.S.-based Israeli think tank MirYam Institute, added that some of the available footage of the attacks suggests the drones deployed by Hamas could have been used as part of a swarming strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHamas used drones effectively to target sensors and armored vehicles, as part of a \u2018swarming\u2019 approach that also involved heavy rocket fire and a ground assault,\u201d Lapin told Defense News. \u201cIt was one component, but an important one for this attack.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All three experts warn that Hamas has likely observed battlefield drone usage in recent conflicts such as the Ukraine-Russia war, where commercial drones have played a large role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHamas pays special attention to the way other non-state terror armies [or organizations] have used them, particularly ISIS, which has used them extensively,\u201d Lapin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A central question in the opening hours of the Oct. 7 massacre remains how Israel, one of the pioneers of drone technology with a large arsenal of effective countermeasures, failed to detect the Hamas drones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Part of the answer lies in the fact that small unmanned aircraft can be difficult to spot for even advanced sensors. And Israel is not alone in having witnessed this kind of breach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is notable that the Russians and Ukrainians \u2014 who are also focused on this same problem \u2014 have struggled in this area and the same is true for other militaries,\u201d Cohen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Cohen, two other factors are likely to have played a role: resources spread thin and a lack of prior intelligence about the strikes launched by Hamas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAll air defenses are finite commodities and Hamas sent a lot at Israel all at once \u2014 not just UAS, but rockets as well,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cIt is also clear that Israel was caught flat-footed by the attack. All the best technology in the world will not help if the soldiers operating it are not alert.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Commercially available models have leveled the playing field for seemingly inferior 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