Comparison of Hezbollah’s arms to Israel’s in the war on Lebanon

The news all over the world talks about how Iran is supplying Hezbollah with sophisticated weapons. This is the case indeed. But how sophisticated are these weapons?

Hezbollah’s main strength is in guerilla warfare…fighting in the trenches, building to building, tree to tree. Close quarters combat is their real forte.

The main component in their arsenal however, is the Katyusha rocket. They are said to have 10,000 (many of which have already been shot into northern Israel). They are World War II era weaponry. Their range is limited, their accuracy is terrible and their effect is minor compared to other rockets and missles that Israel has and is using against Lebanon. The Katyushas can be deadly…they are fired in salvos of 14-48. In WW II they were used to hail down rocket fire on a given area as several launching vehicles would be clustered together to fire hundreds of rockets at once unto a specific area. However, Hezbollah does not have that luxury as they are constantly trying to avoid Israeli detection from satelites and spy drones. Thus they have to be very mobile and fairly dispersed. Their ineffectiveness is evident by the drastically lower civilian death toll in Israel despite the number of rockets fired.

The “missles” that the Hezbollah has, are a joke compared to what Israel has.They are said to be Iranian made Fajr-3’s They are defined as medium-range in that they go over 40 miles but Hezbollah does not have the luxury of mounting hundreds of missle silos around…they have to be mobile and have to have smaller warheads to reduce weight and increase range and speed of deployment. Israel probably has thousands of the worlds deadliest missles including NUKES. Hezbollah has nothing of the sort.

Israel on the other hand has F-16’s purchased by US tax payers as the US provides Israel with over $9 Billion each year in “aid”. These F-16’s are equipped with the latest technology. They are linked to highly sophisticated weapons guidance systems that are supported by extremely detailed maps of Lebanon. Spy drones have been flying over Lebanese territory for the past several years. Lebanon does not have spy drones, nor does Lebanon have detailed maps of Israel. Hezbollah does not either.

Israel has the latest missle technology as well. They are using new fangled missles and bombs such as oxygen bombs, vacuum bombs, and more. They are most likely also using depleted uranium shells.

Israel has gunboats and warships that patrol the Lebanese coastline. Lebanon does not have a navy. Hezbollah does not have gunboats either.

Israel has Merkava tanks equipped with most likely depleted uranium ordinants and the latest in technologies. Lebanon has some WWII era tanks which have not engaged the Israeli ground forces. Hezbollah does not have tanks.

Israel has highly sophisticated air defense systems in place to defend tehmselves from serious missle attacks. Sirens blare when attcks are eminent and people have time to flee into bunkers. Lebanon does not have that luxury nor do their citizens have bomb shelters.

NOTE: Information on the armaments was collected mostly from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyusha

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_Defence_Forces#Israeli_military_technology