Anti-tank missiles
Israeli tank commanders said at the beginning of the 2006 war that Hezbollah's anti-tank missiles damaged or destroyed Israeli vehicles to a large extent. The party succeeded in hitting approximately 50 Israeli Merkava tanks during the conflict, and penetrated the armor of 21 tanks. Hezbollah also used anti-tank missiles against buildings and bunkers of Israeli forces.
RPG-29 shell
The RPG-29 is an unguided rocket-propelled grenade launcher, developed by the Soviet Union in the 1980s, and was designed to give mobile infantry units the ability to penetrate and destroy enemy tanks. The RPG-29 launcher has an effective range of 450 to 500 metres, and carries an anti-tank or anti-personnel grenade weighing 4.5 kg. Some versions of the RPG are equipped with thermal imaging capabilities for night warfare and thermal signature tracking. Russia sold the RPG-29 system to Syria between 1990 and 1999, which in turn provided the system to Hezbollah in the early 2000s. Hezbollah used an RPG for the first time in November 2005. Israeli officials claimed that the RPG-29 was the main cause of the Israeli army's losses during the 2006 Lebanon War.
"Sajer" missile
The Sajr anti-tank missile is a manually guided missile, developed by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. It has an effective range of up to 3 kilometers, and carries a warhead weighing 2.6 or 3.5 kg. The Iranian variant, known as Raad, carries a dual tandem-type warhead, which is designed to counter reactive armor such as that used on many Israeli vehicles, and can penetrate armor up to 400 mm thick. It is estimated that Hezbollah possesses hundreds of Sajr 3 anti-tank missiles, which Iran and Syria supplied to the party.
Fagot AT-4 missile
The Fagot AT-4 is a line-of-sight, wire-guided semi-automatic anti-tank missile developed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s. The second generation "Fagot" has an effective range of up to 2.5 kilometers and can penetrate armor up to 480 mm thick. It is estimated that Hezbollah possesses hundreds of "Fagot AT-4" missiles, which it obtained from Syria.
Spandrel AT5 missile
The Spandrel AT5 is a semi-automatic, wire-guided anti-tank missile developed by the Soviet Union in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The projectile has an effective range of up to 4 kilometers and armor penetration of more than 750 mm. An Israeli report indicated that Iran provided Hezbollah with local copies of Spandrel.
Saxhorn missile
Russia has developed the Saxhorn IIAT-13 missile, which is an anti-tank guided missile. It has an effective range of 1.5 kilometers and can fire up to 4 rounds per minute. The missile was equipped with a tandem warhead, designed to counter reactive armor such as those used on many Israeli vehicles. It can penetrate armor up to 460 mm thick. Russia sold the missile to Syria, which then supplied weapons to Hezbollah in the early 2000s.
Kornet AT-14 missile
Russia developed the AT-14 Kornet anti-tank guided missile, and the Kornet is likely Hezbollah's longest-range anti-tank missile. The effective range of the missile is about 5 kilometers, while it carries a thermal anti-armor or bunker-piercing warhead. The missile can penetrate armor up to 1,200 mm thick. The third generation system also has thermal imaging capabilities for night warfare and thermal signature tracking. Russia sold those missiles to Syria between 1990 and 1999, which in turn provided hundreds of them to Hezbollah shortly thereafter. These missiles clearly demonstrated great effectiveness against Israeli Merkava tanks during the 2006 war.
Almas
Among Hezbollah’s “new and most dangerous weapons is the Almas anti-tank guided missile,” according to the Wall Street Journal 23 September 2024, which gives Hezbollah “a much higher degree of precision in its strikes than it had in 2006,” when the last war between Hezbollah and Israel took place, and when Israeli estimates indicated that “Hezbollah possessed about 12,000 rockets and missiles.” In this context, the newspaper indicated that military analysts believe that “Almas” is “a reversed version of the Israeli Spike missile, which Hezbollah likely obtained and sent to Iran in 2006,” which was confirmed by a resistance leader via Al-Mayadeen in February 2024. At that time, the resistance leader revealed that “Almas” was developed from the Israeli “Gil Spike” missiles, and he spoke about the resistance fighters seizing a handful of “Gil Spike” in 2006, after the occupation soldiers left it and fled, and the handfuls were later transferred to Iran.
