Taken together, Bennet’s and Gantz’s statements testify to the mounting concern in Israel over the threat of Iran’s UAVs, a threat that while not new has now attained a kind of “critical mass,” rendering it equivalent to the nuclear threat and overshadowing the missile and rocket threats from Iran and its proxies.Īpparently, Iran’s UAVs have evolved into an issue of concern for the U.S. Remarkably, Bennett made no mention of the Iranian missile threat. bases in Iraq and cargo ships on the open seas.” He warned that “Iran intends to arm its proxies in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon with hundreds-and later with thousands-of this kind of UAV.” 4 swarms of armed UAVs carrying lethal weapons that can strike anywhere, anytime.” Moreover, he warned that “Iran has already used these lethal UAVs, dubbed ‘Shahed 136,’ to attack Saudi Arabia, U.S. General Assembly, he emphatically stated that “Iran has recently established a new terror weapon unit…. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was even blunter. Gantz, in fact, thereby elevated Iran’s UAVs to the top rank of threats, on par with that posed by Tehran’s nuclear program. The Iranians produce and provide these air vehicles to their proxies, who in turn use them in coordination with and under the command of the Revolutionary Guard and its Quds Brigades.” 3 12, 2021 speech to the Reichman University’s Institute for Counter-Terrorism, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz disclosed that “one of Iran’s most potent weapons is its fleet of UAVs.” According to Gantz, “This is an array of lethal and precise weapons that, like ballistic missiles, can traverse thousands of kilometers. Three months later, the same concern was expressed by top Israeli leaders. Amos Harel, military analyst for Haaretz, reported that “Iran relies on UAVs as a counterweight to Israel’s air superiority,” adding that “Israel’s military high command is worried by the spread of Iran’s UAV capabilities to more and more of Iran’s proxies.” 2 media and strong statements made by Israel’s leadership. This view seems to have changed dramatically, judging by recent reports in the Israeli and U.S. Until fairly recently, Israel’s military regarded the threat from Iran’s UAVs-either operated by Iran’s armed forces or by their proxies in the region-as a minor component of the overall military threat, compared to the major, strategic threats of Iran’s fleet of ballistic missiles and its proxies’ rockets deployed in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Gaza. They now comprise a wide spectrum of types that range in size and function from aircraft size, high-flying reconnaissance UAVs to small, low-cost “suicide” drones. (Janu/ Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security) Iran has been developing and expanding its Unmanned Aerial Vehicles 1 fleets ever since the 1980s.
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