Bekaa Valley, Lebanon
Lebanese Intelligence sources said that the (presumably Israeli) surveillance drone which had hit ground near the village of Younin, near Baalbeck, in the Bekaa Valley was not of a type owned by any of the regular armies in the neighbouring countries.
Sources revealed that Hizbullah had been undertaking test flights of UAVs (drones) capable of carrying a military payload and liable to be used in attacks against enemy positions.
The area of Younin, used by Hizbullah as a training camp for its “air force”, had witnessed intense activity recently. The test flight which misfunctioned last saturdy, July 14, setting a wheat field ablaze, was a test of a drone used to shell enemy targets through non traditional means.
Intel sources speculated that Hizbullah’s intention was to “publicize” its newly acquired capabilities as a warning to the Israelis.
While lebanese Intelligence sources would not comment on the type of drone tested by Hizbullah, Iran is known to have been developing its own Ababil (“swallow”) UAVs, including the tactical Ababil-5 for medium-range reconnaissance and surveillance, the Ababil-T for short/medium-range attack, and also the Ababil-B and -S.
An Ababil drone has a maximum operational radius of 150 km (93 mi) and a maximum ceiling of 14,000 ft (4,268 m). It has the ability to travel at a maximum speed of 300 km/h and is capable of carrying a 45 kg (88 lb.) payload.
Israel has claimed that Hezbollah received 12 Ababils before the 2006 Lebanon War, and launched three into Israel during the conflict, though all three were shot down by Israeli jets before inflicting damage.
In a separate incident, an American F-16 operating in Iraq shot down an Iranian Ababil 3 drone on February 25, 2009 that had been flying through Iraqi airspace for “almost an hour and 10 minutes.
Also, on March 18, 2012, Sudanese rebels claimed to have downed a government operated Ababil using ground fire. The Sudanese government admitted that a UAV had been lost.