Iran has an array of locally developed air defence systems in anticipation of U.S./Israeli air strikes on its nuclear facilities. Like the Sayyad-2, pictured above.
William Christou – New Arab June 7, 2024
Hezbollah announced it used an air defence missile on Thursday which forced an Israeli jet to retreat from Lebanese airspace, the first time the group acknowledged it had the capacity to target fighter jets.
The Lebanese group said in a statement that it fired air defence missiles at Israeli warplanes “which were attacking our skies … forcing them to retreat beyond the border.”
Hezbollah did not give further specifications about the anti-aircraft missile, as it usually does when unveiling new weaponry.
“We still do not know much about the air defence missile itself, but it will restrain the ability of Israel to fly freely over Lebanon,” retired Lebanese General Amine Hoteit told The New Arab.
The demonstration of Hezbollah’s anti-aircraft capacity come as Israel threatens to launch an “intense operation” in south Lebanon. Though both Hezbollah and Israel have said they do not want a full-scale war, the intensity of fighting has reached peaked after eight months of tit-for-tat strikes.
Previously, the extent of Hezbollah’s air defence capacity was to down Israeli drones – itself seen as an achievement for the group, as it had not done so regularly prior to October.
Hezbollah has repeatedly said that it had only used a quarter of its weaponry thus far, which analysts have interpreted as a way of keeping Israel on its toes through a policy of strategic ambiguity.
General Hoteit added that it is likely that the missile launched on Thursday is not the most advanced air defence missile they have, as Hezbollah typically reserves some weaponry for strategic surprises.
Recent weeks have seen an intensification of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, with the latter bombing new areas of northern Israel and causing wildfires over the weekend.
The Lebanese group has also managed to use drones and anti-tank missiles to strike Israeli military targets without triggering sirens or the Israeli Iron Dome air defence system. On Thursday, the group released a video of an anti-tank missile hitting an Iron Dome battery, and pictures of the damaged technology later were published.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military said it had launched an investigation into why a Hezbollah drone attack on its military base had failed to activate warning sirens.
Wonderful news. How great would it be to waste Jew Jets?? Israel, showing its insanity, wants to invade Lebanon. LOL! Like NATO dreaming it can fight Russia without getting liquidated!
Bring it on, Punks!
Russia’s signal to the US that it could send modern weapons to proxies who are fighting the US may be the cue to start lots of campaigns against the US around the world and pin it down in a Global Tet Offensive. This will be useful to keep the US off-guard elsewhere as it deals with these clashes, and if a hot war kicks off then the chances of the US prevailing when they’re spread so far and so thin is incredibly small. The US servicemen and women in those hundreds of bases will have to rely on the goodwill of the local people and government to feed them and arrange transport home, because to be at war everywhere on the planet solely funded by printed money will see hyperinflation far worse than did Weimar.
“Indigenously developed”–because, as we all know, Iran is in a vacuum separated from all the rest of the world and all the past
I want coward israeli fighter jet pilots dead killing innocent
women + children on purpose + nuked Beirut port + Syria !
why is it when the british public support hamas and hezbollah
the government suports israel?