Hamas's Cheap, Makeshift Drones Are Outsmarting Israel's High-Tech Military
It wasn’t the eruption of rocket fire from Gaza that rattled soldiers at Israel’s southern frontier on Oct. 7. It was the unusual hum overhead that they hadn't heard before.
A fleet of drones that are available online for as little as $6,500 filled the skies above Israel’s $1 billion border fence. They were rigged to carry explosives and knock out cameras, communications systems and remote-controlled guns, setting the stage for the unprecedented massacre.
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Hamas’s use of modified commercial drones to stage attacks — a strategy also used by Ukraine in the early days of Russia’s invasion — exposed a significant vulnerability in Israel’s vaunted air and ground defenses. The tactics overwhelmed a far more advanced opponent, all on a shoestring budget.
With the high-tech surveillance systems compromised, thousands of Hamas militants overwhelmed the border in trucks and paragliders. The attack on southern Israel was the deadliest day in the country’s history, with about 1,200 people killed and some 200 taken hostage. It took days for the army to fully regain control of the territory.
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https://archive.is/5Qgxo
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-19/israel-s-advanced-defenses-are-pierced-by-makeshift-hamas-drones-in-gaza-war?embedded-checkout=true
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