IDF May Form Anti-Tank Units Using Captured Hezbollah Weapons

By Idan Avni

(Israel Hayom via JNS) The Israel Defense Forces is examining the possibility of establishing anti-tank units using materiel seized from the Hezbollah terrorist organization, including tens of thousands of Russian Kornet and Iranian Almas anti-tank missiles, equivalent to the Israeli-made Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Gil/Spike system.

This initiative comes following the capture of an unprecedented number of missiles in Southern Lebanon.

After removing weapons from areas previously controlled by Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, the IDF initially considered destroying some equipment due to the vast quantity, but ultimately decided to transfer a significant portion to Israel. During the operation, dozens of trucks loaded with weapons were removed from numerous villages.

These weapons were intended to provide Hezbollah teams with long-range combat capabilities against IDF troops, primarily consisting of advanced missiles such as the Alma—an optical anti-tank missile with reverse engineering capabilities based on Rafael’s Gil missile, featuring “fire-and-forget” mechanisms effective at ranges of several miles.

The IDF also seized a significant quantity of Kornet missiles, which have been fired toward northern Israeli communities over the past year. These Russian-manufactured missiles, enhanced in their Iranian version, can reach ranges of up to 7.5 miles, with clear operational significance for the IDF.

The possibility of converting this massive cache into dedicated long-range units is under consideration, following the IDF’s historical precedent of utilizing spoils from previous wars.

Originally published by Israel Hayom.