The drone technology behind Iran’s aerial attack on Israel
Iran’s barrage of low-tech drones and missiles against Israel demonstrate its potential to overwhelm Israel’s high-tech defenses, though 99% of the projectiles were intercepted by the latter.
Photograph: Shutterstock
On 13th April 2024, Iran launched a barrage of more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel, marking Iran’s first retaliatory attack on Israeli soil. This drone attack served as the Iranian response to a strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria on 1st April 2024, which Iran has attributed to Israel.
The Iranian aerial attack, known as Operation True Promise, involved “more than 120 ballistic missiles, 170 drones, and more than 30 cruise missiles,” according to Daniel Hagari, Israel’s chief military spokesman in a report by the Associated Press Agency. The attacks alerted civilians and Israeli forces in more than 720 locations across the country, with explosions being heard from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Israeli army confirmed that 99 percent of the Iranian missiles were intercepted by its jets and those of its American and Jordanian allies. Several others were thwarted by Israel’s mobile air defense system, the Iron Dome.
Israel’s Iron Dome consists of approximately 10 missile-defense batteries that are strategically distributed around the country. The Iron Dome fires interceptor missiles at incoming rockets when activated by the command-and-control center. Iain Boyd, director of the Center for National Security Initiatives at the University of Colorado, told WIRED that the Iron Dome is “designed for defense against low-flying, fast-moving missiles,” such as drones as opposed to rockets that soar at higher speeds. The Iron Dome, which serves as Israel’s last line of defense, is likely to have intercepted 170 Iranian Shahed-136 and Shahed-131s. These unnamed aerial vehicles (UAVs), are cheap “kamikaze” drones that made a notable feature in the Russian aerial attacks on Ukraine. Made using off-shell components, these UAVs (Shahed-136) are known to “wreck havoc if fired in large numbers” according to John Krzyzaniak, a research associate at the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control. With built-in warheads, these cost-effective drones are designed to crash into targets, enabling Iran to launch them in such multitudes.
In addition to the drones, Iranian cruise missiles were expected to hit Israeli soil within two hours of their launch, before which they were swiftly shot down by US and other allied forces. Hagari told CNN that “[Iranian] ballistic missiles that reached Israel fell on the airbase in the south of the country and caused only light structural damage. The base is functioning and continuing its operations following the attack, with planes continuing to use the base.” Israeli officials also added that minimal damage was inflicted by the Iranian drones and missiles thanks to the Iron Dome and other Israeli defense systems, except a 10-year-old was reportedly injured by shrapnel from an interceptor.
David Ochmanek, the senior defense analyst at the nonprofit RAND Corporation, confirmed that “at one level they’re [Shahed-136] not difficult to take down. They’re not stealthy, they don’t fly very fast, and they don’t maneuver.” Yet, Ochmanek warns that drones must not be dealt with lightly, “they have high-explosive warheads of several hundred pounds. If one hits a building, it’ll destroy that building,” says Ochmanek. “The other thing is, they fly low. If you have a ground-based radar, they don’t break the horizon until they’re fairly close to the target, so the engagement time is limited,” he told WIRED on 13th April shortly after the attacks. The conservative operational range of the Shahed-136 is 2,500 kilometers. With Israel located about 1,000 kilometers westward from Iran, it lies well within striking distance. Previously launched in 2021, the Shahed-136 can soar at a maximum speed of 185 kilometers per hour, making it an easy target for interception. The 50-kilogram payload capacity adds another operational flaw to this drone.
The operational range of Iran’s drone arsenal. Courtesy of the American Security Project, Iranian news agencies.
However, Iran’s eclectic drone portfolio features other lethal combat drones, such as the Mohajer-6, the Shahed-129, and the Shahed-191. According to a report released by UK-based Conflict Armament Research (CAR), “Iranian drones are being modified to fulfill Russia’s war needs.” Thereby furthering its position as a thrifty manufacturer of lethal drones.
According to analysts who spoke to Al Jazeera, the Iranian retaliation against Israel stems from the consulate strike in Syria that led to the killing of two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) generals and five officers. The analysts speculate that the Israeli strike was a “deliberate attempt to draw Iran into regional war and shift US and Western focus away from Israel’s war on Gaza and towards the regional bogeyman, Iran.”
Though rudimentary, the Iranian missile sends a clear signal of a transitioning proxy war between Iran and Israel anchored on drone technology. Iran’s thrifty arsenal proves that future attacks will be just as cost-effective, with a wider target range.
