According to rumors in the Ukrainian social sphere, confirmed by the Russian one about ten days ago, a delegation of Israeli officers specialized in air defense visited Kiev. So far, no details about the visit have been released, but it seems that they went to Kiev to observe how Ukrainian forces are fighting “Russian loitering munitions”.
Although Israeli air defense systems are effective at intercepting different types of rockets, they are not able to deal with loitering munitions and other kamikaze drones widely used by Hezbollah. On October 14, a UAV of this type easily penetrated Israeli air defenses and hit a military base, resulting in the death of several soldiers.
The Russian armed forces are massively using this type of drones against Ukrainian forces, especially against the Lancet, which were initially difficult for the Ukrainians to shoot down. In response, Kiev has this year stepped up its development of solutions to counter such attacks using electronic warfare and rapid response methods.
Similarly, Israel’s Iron Dome system has difficulty intercepting Iranian Shahed-136 loitering munitions because they have a very low radar profile, while Ukrainian forces have managed to intercept many of them when Russia has deployed them at the front.
Ukraine’s low-cost innovation also offers a financial solution for Israeli forces facing the conundrum of asymmetric equipment prices. They currently use missiles costing several hundred thousand dollars to take down Hezbollah or Houthi UAVs costing only a few thousand.
Meanwhile, according to Israeli and Ukrainian sources, the Mossad, which until now had only a representative office in Kiev, has increased its staff in recent weeks. Mossad representatives are increasingly holding meetings with Ukrainian officials. The Ukrainians, for example, are ready to provide everything they have to Yuzhmash (a missile industry base that has been in operation since 1950). The Ukrainians believe that the Mossad may be interested in any details of missile technology that Moscow could share with Iran in the meantime, allowing Tehran to develop its own line of missiles that will now be launched against Israel. In turn, Tel Aviv has already promised strategic information from Russia, where the Mossad claims to have first-hand sources.
This operational convergence is completely new. An Israeli officer who recently visited Kiev told his Ukrainian colleague that “we should have come a year ago.”
Israel has maintained a rather moderate attitude towards Kiev since the Russian offensive began in February 2022. Israeli cyber intelligence operators were prohibited from selling their offensive products. Defense firms have kept a low profile as Tel Aviv has sought to preserve its agreements with Moscow to resolve the conflict in Syria, which has allowed both sides to keep the conflict at an acceptable level.
But events in the Middle East since Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, have changed that. The skirmishes, involving first Iranian representatives of Hezbollah and the Houthis and then Tehran’s barrage of ballistic missiles fired at Israel on October 1, have forced Israeli security diplomacy to change its approach. Israeli defense firms have returned to offering their services, and on October 6, Israel’s ambassador to Kiev, Mikhail Brodsky, invited Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to travel to Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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