The drone that struck Eilat on Wednesday was a kamikaze drone, of the type the Houthis and other Iranian-backed groups have used for several years.
These types of drones have also been used by Hezbollah and also militias in Iraq.
The Houthis appear to have shifted to using more drones in their attacks, and Wednesday’s attack was the second recent strike by a drone in Eilat. This may be due to them having fewer ballistic missiles or because they have judged that drones are more likely to penetrate Israel’s vast air defense network.
The drone strike comes as Israel is increasingly close to deploying laser air defenses along with its Iron Dome missile interceptors.
At least 20 people were wounded in the strike. Several of them were hit by shrapnel, and two were in serious condition. The IDF said it was investigating the circumstances of the incident after having failed to intercept the drone.
Drones like the one used against Eilat are relatively slow-moving. They can be intercepted by warplanes and also helicopters, and they can also be shot down with lasers and missiles by Israel’s multi-layered air defense system.
These types of drones have been used by the Houthis to attack Israel, but they have also been used to attack ships in the Red Sea and against other countries.
The Houthis have improved upon the designs of their drones over the years.
One aspect that makes the Houthi drone a threat is that even though it may be slow-moving, it can also fly at a relatively low altitude, making it hard to detect. Back in 2019, Al-Arabiya published a schematic of a Houthi drone they called an Iranian-made “Shahed-129.” This was based on an Iranian model and was then trafficked to Yemen.
It had a wingspan of around 450 cm and a fuselage of around 280 cm.
The Houthis also developed other drones they named the Qasef 1 and Qasef 2K, as well as the Sammad line of drones. The Sammad drones were also similar in design to the Shahed 129, with a long wing and a V-shaped tail. The Qasef line of drones is based on the Iranian Ababil-type drone.
The drones of the type used against Eilat have a range of more than 2,000 km. They carry a warhead of varying sizes. Another line of Iranian drones, the Shahed 136, which looks like a flying wing, was also deployed to Yemen by Iran back in 2020. That type of drone was then exported by Iran to Russia and is used frequently by Moscow against Ukraine.
The low-tech nature of drones makes them dangerous
The Houthi drone threat is not increasing. However, that doesn’t mean it is not dangerous. The drone that struck Eilat is not hi-tech; rather, it is the low-tech aspect of it that continues to be a problem. It is relatively simple and easy to build. It can fly long distances. It can fly at low altitude. All of this makes it difficult to stop, either at the point of production or launch, or on its flight path.
Drones can also be programmed to fly complex flight patterns and waypoints, so that they approach from different angles and directions. The Houthis have flown drones over Egypt, for instance, to try to attack Israel from the Mediterranean in the past.
The war in Ukraine has shown that while drones can be intercepted, if enemies use enough of them, they will get through air defenses. There is no magic number of air defenses that can completely stop all of them.
Small mistakes, such as not detecting them or not downing them in time, or even misclassifying them, can cause them to break through defenses.
For instance, drones are flying in civilian airspace in areas where there are also small private planes, which can make detection more complex.
This is why the drone threat will continue and will also always be a threat.