Palestinian Islamists Release Video Showing Alleged Drone Strikes On Israeli Tanks

Militant group using commercial remote-controlled aircraft, referred to as drones, to attack Israel Defense Forces armored vehicles stationed on the Gaza border.

The footage, which starts with the words ‘what the enemy has kept silent about,’ shows two different attacks, bombs are dropped from an unmanned aerial vehicle onto two Merkava IV model tanks.

In the second attack, a drone hovers over a tank. It stays static, while text in the right-hand corner of the video says ‘waiting for the soldiers to leave,’ before dropping a makeshift bomb on the tank.

Thanks to @Obs_IL for the quick access to this image, note the exhaust position. pic.twitter.com/vrsVVZx8Rx

— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) May 30, 2019

13 seconds in, IED "disappears" before it hits the ground (blue circle). Within the same second the exhaust fumes from the tank can be seen moving from the engine start (red circle) in arrowed direction. pic.twitter.com/j7mLKZvQLA

— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) May 30, 2019

Despite some irregularities in this video shown in this thread, the fact still remains the drone was able to position itself above IDF personnel and potentially drop an IED which would cause a lot of harm.

— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) May 30, 2019

Drones are nothing new in the Middle East. U.S. intelligence agencies and the military have been using unmanned aerial vehicles in the region for well over a decade. But smaller drones have begun proliferating, and they are increasingly finding a role on the battlefield. It's the clearest sign yet, Waters says, of a new era of drone warfare.

The weapon launched in January was sent by Houthi rebels, who control a large part of Yemen and are partnered with Iran. Waters says the drone was a glorified model airplane with an explosive on the front and a propeller on the back. It flew a preprogrammed route using GPS. "Although it's like relatively simple, it can be very effective," he says.

In recent weeks, Houthis have been stepping up attacks with these small drones. They've struck targets inside Saudi Arabia, including oil pipelines and air fields. On Sunday, Saudi state media reported it had successfully repelled the latest attack, which was attempted on an airport near the border with Yemen.

The small drones used by the Houthis pose some significant problems for conventional militaries, according to Nicholas Heras, a fellow at the Center for a New American Security. "They're difficult to stop because they're low profile," he says. "They don't give off a lot of radar signature, they fly relatively slowly." Moreover, using GPS, they can navigate through holes in air defenses.

According to the U.S. government and several independent researchers, at least some of the drone technology being used by the Houthis seems to come from their main sponsor in the region — Iran.

Iran started developing drones in the 1980s, says Gawdat Bahgat, a professor at the National Defense University. The work started in part because Iran was under various arms embargoes, and its air force was woefully out of date.

"Within this context, drones are perfect," Bahgat says. They provide air power for "a fraction of the cost of fighter jets."