Top 5 Domestically-Sourced Weapons Shaping Mideast Conflict

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19:05 GMT 01.01.2025 (Updated: 19:12 GMT 01.01.2025)

Ilya Tsukanov

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The IDF ground invasion of Gaza that kicked off several weeks into the conflict with Hamas in October 2023 ran into serious difficulties, stemming from the militia’s skilled use of tunnels to lure Israeli forces into built-up areas and wage costly guerrilla warfare against them using a combination of small arms and man-portable rockets.

The latter includes the Yasin, a Soviet RPG-2/RPG-7-derived, locally-produced anti-tank rocket propelled grenade (RPG) introduced in 2004 for use by the Al-Qassam Brigades. Effective to a range up to 300 meters, these deadly weapons have proven a potent threat to everything from ground troops to armor up to 21 cm thick at closer ranges (150 m or less), including Merkava tanks.

While depending extensively on US-made munitions like the Mark 84 2,000 pound bomb to level wide swathes of the Gaza Strip, Israel has also used its own air-dropped weapons, like the 3,000 pound Popeye missile, on enemies further afield, most recently against Yemen’s Houthis.

Designed by Rafael in the mid-1980s, the Popeye has a 78 km range (beyond that of most air defense systems), and is equipped with a 340 kg blast frag or 360 kg penetration warhead. It features inertial, infrared or TV guidance.

Amid the escalation of fighting with the Houthis, and Israeli leaders’ threats to assassinate the militia’s leadership en masse, the Popeye and missiles like it, including the Rampage, Sky Sniper and Ice Breaker are shaping up to become the IDF’s key tools in aerial aggression against Yemen.

Undoubtedly the most important weapon in the Houthi arsenal for attacks on Israel is the Palestine-2, a two-stage solid fuel missile with a 2,150 km range, 500 kg warhead, top speed up to Mach 16, and reportedly, the ability to maneuver during flight.

Palestine-2 launches have proven the Houthis’ ability to penetrate Israel’s much-touted multilayered, multi-billion dollar air defense network. The effectiveness of Palestine-2 strikes in mid-December may also help to explain the dramatic ramping up of Israeli and US-UK revenge bombings inside Yemen in recent weeks.

2024 saw the first-ever direct, large-scale exchange of fire between Iran and Israel, with the Islamic Republic launching two waves of missile attacks against Tel Aviv – in April and October, and dozens of missiles landing on target at military bases and intelligence sites without being intercepted.

Among these missiles was the Kheibar Shekan (lit. ‘Fortress Buster’), a 4.5 ton, 10.5 meter-long solid fuel ballistic missile with a 1,450 km range and a 500 kg warhead. Besides Israel, Iran has recently used these weapons for strikes on terrorists in Pakistan and Syria.

Through 2024, Hezbollah repeatedly deployed its ‘Hudhud’ (lit. Hoopoe’, as in the extravagant bird) reconnaissance drones over northern Israel, releasing high-res footage of top-secret Israeli bases.

Info online regarding the large, airplane-style turboprop-powered drone’s characteristics varies wildly. What is known for certain is that the Hoopoe has demonstrated the vulnerabilities of its southern neighbor’s air defenses to slow, low-flying unmanned aerial vehicles, with the intelligence they gather used to direct attacks by Hezbollah’s significant rocket artillery and missile forces.