Israeli Iron Dome Air Defences Destroyed in Hezbollah Drone Strike - Footage Shows

Footage released by the Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah has shown the destruction of launchers from an Israeli Iron Dome air defence system using first person view attack drones. Maintenance crew were seen diving away from the drone seconds before impact, with the aircraft approaching unobserved until less than five seconds before it struck. The launchers were deployed at the Jal al-Alam military site in northern Israel, where they appear to have been forward positioned to provide a defence against Israeli artillery strikes. Analysts observing the footage have indicated that the drones may have integrated PG-7VL or PG-7-AT high-explosive anti-tank warheads.

Iron Dome systems are optimised for defence against short range low altitude projectiles such as drones and rocket artillery, which are primary means used by Hezbollah to engage Israeli targets. The systems have had relatively few applications in Israel’s direct clashes with Iranian forces, however, as Iran has primarily relied on ballistic missiles to strike targets in Israel, with Israeli forces relying on the Arrow, David’s Sling and other higher tier systems for anti-missile roles. Hezbollah’s first ever use of ballistic missiles in combat in March 2026, however, has raised the possibility of these higher tier systems also needing to be operationalised. 

Hezbollah in 2024 launched multiple strikes targeting Israeli Iron Dome systems, and achieved several successes. A number of reports indicate that non-line of sight anti-tank guided missile systems resembling the U.S. Javelin system were also used to destroy launchers and other components from high value Israeli air defence systems. Hezbollah’s strikes have also targeted higher tier systems such as the David’s Sling. Supplies of components and interceptors for the Iron Dome system were by late 2024 increasingly scarce, as they were relied on to intercept attacks from both Gaza and Southern Lebanon after months of hostilities. The Israeli Ministry of Defense in November 2025 finalised plans to expand serial production of the Iron Dome, with contracts to do so reportedly funded by an $8.7 billion aid package from the United States, 

After Israel and the United States initiated a full scale assault against Iran on February 28, high intensity hostilities between Israeli and Hezbollah forces that began the following day have seen the latter make extensive use of first person view drones to destroy high value targets. The paramilitary group appears to have learned from Russian and Ukrainian experience in utilising first person view drones to evade electronic interference, possibly due to a sharing of knowhow. Fighting since March 1 has been widely assessed to be by far the most intensive in the history of the two parties’ decades long conflict, with Hezbollah having successfully launched multiple ambushes against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, destroying several dozen Merkava main battle tanks among other high value assets. Lebanese population centres south of the Litani river have been targeted with massive force, and gradually destroyed and depopulated, as Israel appears to be seeking to remove the local population as an extreme means to assert control over southern Lebanon.