Ballistic missiles and artillery rockets: What we know about Hezbollah’s weapons arsenal

Tyler Mitchell By Tyler Mitchell Jul30,2024
After a , Israel has threatened retaliation against Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, accusing it of perpetrating the attack with an Iranian-made Falaq-1 rocket — part of its wide-ranging arsenal.
Hezbollah has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Israel in support of Hamas since the Palestinian militant group’s 7 October attack on southern Israel triggered war in the Gaza Strip.
The war between Hamas and Israel is the latest escalation in a long-standing conflict.

The Iran-backed group has used Falaq rockets in attacks on Israeli military sites but says it had “no connection” to the strike on Saturday on a football field that killed 12 children.

This is what is said to be inside the Shiite Muslim movement’s weapons cache.

Wide range of rockets and missiles

Experts say Hezbollah has a wide range of unguided heavy artillery rockets, ballistic missiles, as well as anti-aircraft, anti-tank and anti-ship missiles.
Those include Falaq-1 and Falaq-2 unguided rockets, which have a range of about 11km — according to a Hezbollah artillery officer interviewed by the group’s al-Manar channel earlier this month.

Artillery rockets, including Falaq models, “are not accurate” and “have a margin of error of up to three kilometres”, according to Riad Kahwaji, head of the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.

A row of tanks parked in front of apartment blocks

Lebanese army Soviet-made T-54 tanks parked in the port city of Tyre, southern Lebanon. Source: AP / Sergey Ponomarev

Military analyst and retired Lebanese army general Khalil Helou said Hezbollah has Iranian ballistic missiles that it has yet to use.

Hezbollah has expanded the size and quality of its arsenal since it last fought an all-out war with Israel in 2006.

Drones used in recent attacks

Hezbollah has been launching drones towards targets in northern Israel and the Golan Heights.
The group has said it sent surveillance drones on three occasions to film military sites, including the Ramat David airbase about 45km from the border.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has said local production contributed to his group’s large drone stockpile.

A fighters’ group of over 100,000

Last month, Nasrallah said the number of fighters his group could count on “greatly exceeded” 100,000, and his group had turned down offers from allies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran to send combatants.

Helou said Hezbollah could probably “mobilise more than 100,000 men, counting reservists”.
However, he noted, “that doesn’t mean they are all ready and trained for fighting”.
Helou said Hezbollah was “prepared for a war of attrition according to the same model as Hamas”.

“Its leaders will be unreachable to Israeli aircraft, as they will be underground.”

Tyler Mitchell

By Tyler Mitchell

Tyler is a renowned journalist with years of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, entertainment, and technology. His insightful analysis and compelling storytelling have made him a trusted source for breaking news and expert commentary.

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