A weapon that guarantees a greater range and charge but with low precision. The Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah, an ally of Iran, claimed responsibility for firing Fadi rockets at Israel, for the first time since the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas against Israel on October 7, which sparked the war that has been raging in the Gaza Strip ever since.
What are its characteristics?
The Iranian Mehr news agency, citing Hezbollah, describes a multi-purpose ground-to-ground tactical rocket. The Fadi-1 is 6 m long with a caliber of 220 mm, and carries an explosive charge of 83 kg with a range of 70 km. The Fadi-2, which Hezbollah claimed to have used on Sunday, is the same length but with a caliber of 302 mm. Its charge reaches 170 kg and its range 100 km.
According to Elliot Chapman, an expert on the region for the British private intelligence firm Janes, the unguided rocket “resembles the Syrian 302mm Khaibar rocket”, itself “a Syrian-made version of the Chinese WS-1”.
The device, he said, was likely featured in a video released by the organization in mid-August, showing fighters in large, lit tunnels dug into the rock and traversed by trucks, as well as a hatch revealing a large launcher aimed skyward.
What arsenal does Hezbollah have?
No information was available Tuesday about where they are manufactured, in Lebanon or abroad. The quantity that the pro-Iranian Shiite movement has is also not known. But according to various credible estimates, the latter relies on thousands of unguided rockets of various types, capable of striking within a radius of 45 to 200 km.
“The impact of the Israeli airstrike campaign on its capabilities remains unknown,” Elliot Chapman said. As for the accuracy of the machine, it seems quite random, as evidenced by the gap between the targets announced and the results of the strikes.
Towards more frequent use?
Hezbollah had remained careful until now, despite its regular strikes on northern Israel, not to engage in a frontal war. A scenario that the West fears could change since the Israeli operations in southern Lebanon last week.
“Hezbollah has avoided a major escalation in its previous attacks,” recalls War Noir, a pseudonymous expert and co-founder of the American specialist site Militant Wire, thus explaining the use until now of smaller artillery rockets against Israeli military sites.
“But as the escalation escalates, if Hezbollah can survive the intense strikes of the Israeli army, these heavy rockets should be used more frequently,” possibly against larger Israeli positions further away from the Israeli-Lebanese border, he adds.
Analysts seem to believe, however, that Israel has the means to protect itself, thanks to one of the most advanced arms industries in the world and its air defense system, the “Iron Dome.” With the unwavering financial, technological and political support of the United States.
150,000 to 200,000 rockets and missiles
In 2021, Hezbollah claimed some 100,000 fighters. The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) counts half that number. A year ago, the Israeli Institute for Security Studies (INSS) estimated its arsenal at 150,000 to 200,000 rockets and missiles of all kinds, including “hundreds of precision missiles.”
The group had held maneuvers in May 2023, also displaying Iranian, Syrian, Russian and Chinese weapons systems.
According to the Israeli Alma Center, the Fadi rocket is named after Fadi Hassan Tawil, a Hezbollah member killed by Israel in 1987. His brother, Wissam Tawil, commander of the organization’s elite Radwan force, was killed last January by a strike on his vehicle.
