Burkan missiles and kamikaze drones: this is Hezbollah’s arsenal

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Fears are growing of an uncontrollable spread of bloodshed in the Middle East. In addition to the fighting in the Gaza Strip, there have been repeated clashes between the Israeli army and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, backed by Iran, in the Israel-Lebanon border area since the war began on October 7. There have already been deaths on both sides.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (74) warned Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah (63) last Saturday: “Don’t make the mistake of going to war. That would be the mistake of your life. Your participation in the war will seal the fate of Lebanon.” His Defense Minister Joav Galant (65) said Hezbollah was playing with fire. “The citizens of Lebanon must know that if Nasrallah makes a mistake, the fate of Beirut could be the same as the fate of Gaza,” Galant said.

Play with your muscles

Nasrallah assured in a TV speech last Saturday that there would be no major war. But at the same time he tensed his muscles. The front against Israel remains active. “There was a quantitative improvement in the number of missions, size and number of targets, as well as an increase in the type of weapons.” Armed drones and a Burkan-type missile have now been used for the first time. The projectiles can carry between 300 and 500 kilos of explosives and have a range of about ten kilometers. They are fired from mobile, vehicle-mounted ramps.

The militia’s arsenal, which is classified as a terrorist group by numerous countries, is a mix of old, new, Eastern, Western, Iranian and locally produced weapons. According to a report by Al Jazeera, Hezbollah presented part of it to the public last May. At least two types of electronic drone defense weapons were demonstrated, among other things. The Shiite militia also displayed Chinese SK-18 anti-aircraft missiles, which are fired from the shoulder.

Anti-ship cruise missiles, Fatah-110 grenades

Instead of bulky, well-armored vehicles, a fleet of four-wheeled, all-terrain buggies were on display. Some of them are equipped with machine guns, others with Russian or Iranian anti-tank missiles.

Against maritime targets, Hezbollah has the Noor, an Iranian version of a Chinese anti-ship cruise missile. Rumor has it that she now also has the Russian-made Jachont, which is much more effective and has a longer range. According to the Israeli think tank Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), Hezbollah also has several hundred Fatah-110 missiles – short-range ballistic missiles developed and manufactured by Iran.

Video shows attack

On Sunday, Hezbollah released a video showing the use of Samir and Ababil-T kamikaze drones against Israeli military installations. The drones from Iran are already used in Yemen by the Houthi militia, which is also supported by Tehran. The two systems have a range of up to 150 kilometers, a warhead of approximately 50 kilos and radio navigation that can be used to target a target from the ground.

Source: Blick