Hezbollah's Burkan, Falaq pound Israeli sites along border
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After using ATGMs as sniper weapons, the Resistance today employs the 500kg Burkan rockets as the to-go-to artillery shells.
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Hezbollah fighters manning RPGS astride bikes, with rocket launchers behind them during military drills, on May 24, 2022 (Social media)
Starting today's operations 20 minutes after midnight, the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah announced targeting a number of Israeli military sites using the Resistance's trademark Burkan rockets.
The Military Media released three statements thus far, detailing the operations.
- At 12:20 am, the Resistance fighters targeted the Birket Risha military site using Burkan rockets resulting in a direct hit.
- Concurrently, at 12:20 am, the Resistance targeted the Hadab al-Bustan military site using Burkan rockets resulting in a direct hit.
- At 8:00 am, the Resistance targeted the "Biranit" Barracks also using Burkan rockets and resulting in a direct hit.
- At 10:00 am, the Resistance fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers stationed behind the Jal al-Allam site with a Falaq missile, achieving a direct hit.
- Later at 11:15 am, the group launched an attack on a grouping of Israeli occupation soldiers in the "Mitat" Barracks.
- Just half an hour later, Hezbollah fighters attacked the "Metula" military site with the appropriate weapons, confirming direct hits to the intended targets.
After using ATGMs as sniper weapons, the Resistance today employed a number of the 500kg Burkan rockets as the to-go-to artillery shells.
Following the operations, the IOF announced that two Israeli soldiers were injured and transferred to the hospital for treatment.
Burkan: Pride and joy of the Lebanese resistance
On November 4 last year, the Israel-Alma research center reported that Hezbollah had used the Burkan rocket for the first time.
"Burkan rockets are cheap, effective, and numerous within the Hezbollah arsenal, having a few thousand that carry up to 500 kg of explosives each. Hezbollah has the ability to produce them domestically since Syria's CERS center passed them the knowledge," they wrote.
The Burkan is a short-range "heavyweight" rocket domestically developed by Hezbollah with each rocket estimated to cost $300-$400 and holding from 100kg to 500kg of explosives.
The Lebanese Islamic Resistance has lately deployed new weapons and tactics in its latest round of confrontations with “Israel” in response to the Israeli massacres against civilians in #Gaza and the killing of Lebanese civilians.
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) November 22, 2023
One of them is the Burkan rockets. Here's what… pic.twitter.com/FJkO5lfPv2
The Resistance's utilization of Burkan rockets quickly raised concerns in the Israeli settler community. Israel-Alma reported that the domestically developed Lebanese rockets pose a serious threat to the stability in the north as they're capable of dodging the Iron Dome anti-air system and have a destruction radius of 250 meters.
Falaq-1: Another Hezbollah flagship
Hezbollah officially debuted the Falaq-1 system for the first time in this round of confrontations on January 26. The weapon, developed by Iran's Aerospace Industries Organization, has a range of 10km and carries a high explosive warhead, weighing 50kg.
The surface-to-surface rocket can be launched from a multiple rocket launcher system installed on a light vehicle's cargo bed or from simple launch pads. Falaq-1 rockets have a 240 mm caliber and can be spin-stabilized if launched from the appropriate canisters, awarding them a maximum range of 10 km.
A new version of the system had been recently released, marking improvements to the caliber and warhead of the system. The Falaq-2 is a 333 mm caliber rocket that carries a 120 kg improved warhead.
Al Mayadeen's sources confirmed that Hezbollah has owned the Falaq-1 system since the 1990s and has used it in operations leading up to South Lebanon's liberation in 2000.
