Tuesday, August 25, 2026

Could Hamas' kites be research into fiber optic drones?

As HonestReporting reported this week, several kites recently crossed from Gaza into Israeli territory. Some reportedly had strings between two and four kilometers long. Israeli officials suspect that Hamas may have been testing Israel's response to objects crossing the border.

Israel's decision to respond forcefully to kites being flown from Gaza has been mocked online. After all, these were apparently ordinary kites, without explosives or incendiary materials. Why should one of the world's most technologically advanced militaries care about a kite?

Obviously they are not kids' kites. A four kilometer string is enough evidence that the kites are being sent out for a military purpose.

Warfare has changed. And in this case, apparently primitive technology may be relevant to one of the newest and most difficult threats facing the IDF: the experiments could have some connection to fiber-optic drones.

For years, one of the most effective defenses against small drones has been electronic warfare. An FPV drone is normally controlled by radio signals, while sending video back to its operator the same way. Jam those signals and the drone can lose its connection, crash, or become useless.

The wars in Ukraine produced an extraordinarily simple workaround: don't use radio.

A fiber-optic FPV drone carries a spool of extremely thin optical fiber. As the drone flies, the cable unspools behind it, maintaining a physical connection all the way back to the operator. Commands travel through the fiber in one direction and live video in the other. There is no radio control signal to jam and no GPS signal that the drone needs in order to reach its target.

This isn't theoretical. Hezbollah has already been using these drones against Israel.

Reuters reported in May that Hezbollah had sharply increased its use of cheap fiber-optic FPV attack drones in southern Lebanon. An experienced Ukrainian drone operator who examined Hezbollah footage told Reuters that one of the spools appeared consistent with about 10 kilometers of fiber-optic cable. The Associated Press similarly described Hezbollah's drones as using fiber "the width of dental floss," allowing them to bypass conventional electronic jamming.

And these aren't exotic weapons requiring a secret Iranian military laboratory. Hezbollah reportedly assembles them locally using commercially available components and 3D-printed parts, at an estimated cost of only $300-$400 per drone.

In fact, you can buy much of the technology yourself.

An American drone retailer called GetFPV currently advertises a 10-kilometer fiber-optic canister for FPV drones for $890. It contains more than ten kilometers of 0.26 mm fiber, weighs less than a kilogram including the fiber, and comes with the optical module needed for the drone. The company specifically advertises it as "immune to RF interference and signal jamming."

Another retailer, United UAV, sells a 10-kilometer drone fiber spool for $495. Its fiber weighs only 80 grams per kilometer and is designed for two-way transmission of video and control data. Manufacturers advertise versions running 20, 30 and even 50 kilometers.

These canisters are only a few pounds, and can easily be smuggled into Gaza. Hamas doesn't need to manufacture it.

A 50 kilometer fiber cable and canister weighs 10 kg. That could reach Beersheva.

There are plenty of things Hamas could learn cheaply from experiments involving objects crossing the border while trailing extremely long lightweight lines: where lines snag on buildings, fences, trees and other obstacles; what trajectories are practical; what Israel detects; how quickly the IDF responds; and which approaches across the border are relatively unobstructed.

This is one of the strange lessons of modern warfare. Increasingly sophisticated defenses can make seemingly primitive technologies useful again. We saw this on October 7 - Israel invested in sophisticated electronic surveillance and didn't consider a mass of people and trucks breaking through the fence. Israel has spent enormous resources developing electronic systems capable of detecting and jamming hostile communications. The enemy's answer may be a cheap quadcopter connected to its operator by an almost invisible strand of glass.

Hezbollah has already shown that this works. Hamas knows that too.

So when Hamas-controlled Gaza suddenly starts sending kites across the border trailing strings several kilometers long, the IDF would be foolish to laugh at them simply because they are kites.

(h/t Irene)

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