Elbit CEO says defense firm is developing hardware to combat Hezbollah drones

Israel’s largest defense contractor is developing hardware to combat explosive Hezbollah drones that have killed Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, including through the potential use of laser-based defense systems, its CEO tells Reuters.

The Iran-backed Lebanese terror group has used the cheap, easy-to-assemble kamikaze drones to attack Israeli troops who have remained in southern Lebanon since an April 16 truce. Difficult for air defenses to thwart, the drones are also being used to deadly effect in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Under pressure to address the threat, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged yesterday to escalate attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. But he did not spell out a plan to address the drones, which can evade Israel’s high-tech jamming technologies.

In an interview, Bezhalel Machlis, chief executive of Elbit Systems, says the defense giant is actively working with the Defense Ministry to develop a quick solution to the drone challenge.

He says that could involve an “energy weapon solution,” adding that the company is “very active in energy weapons such as lasers.”

“There are other means, which are also relevant to this threat. We are heavily involved in the development of a solution [to] this challenge” of explosive drones, Machlis says after Elbit reported big gains in first-quarter revenue and profit. Its Nasdaq-listed shares rose 8% in morning trade.

Israel has been using low-tech solutions like nets to stop the First-Person-View drones, controlled with fiber-optic cables, from hitting troops.

Machlis says Elbit is seeing rising demand in Europe, the US and the Asia-Pacific, as well as from the United Arab Emirates.

“We are active in this region,” Machlis says of Elbit’s Middle East business. “It is fast-growing.”