Small Quadcopter Drones Help Israel Navigate Hamas's Tunnels

"The Israeli military has tried a variety of methods to explore Hamas's tunnels in Gaza: robots, robot dogs and real dogs. But it has quickly learned that the cheapest and most effective option for exploring the underground labyrinths is a small quadcopter drone.

In the dense urban battlefield of Gaza, the Israeli military also has been flying these quadcopters -- essentially small helicopters with four rotors -- into buildings before sending in soldiers. The devices can provide smaller units with aerial reconnaissance and be used as guided munitions.

The small drones are just one new piece of Israel's unmanned aerial arsenal, which military officials say has played an essential role in minimizing their casualties as they advance through a densely populated, well-fortified and extensively booby-trapped battlefield.

Israel also operates a large fleet of fixed-wing unmanned aircraft -- some as large as F-16s and others small enough to be carried on a soldier's back -- that carry out a mix of surveillance, reconnaissance and airstrikes. The largest aircraft can fly up to an altitude of 45,000 feet and stay airborne for nearly a day and a half, while the smallest flies at 5,000 feet and can stay aloft for a few hours.

Israeli military officials say those drones are a critical backbone of support for the military. But it turns out that small, cheap quadcopter drones are in many ways more useful on some parts of the battlefield -- like in tunnels.

The Israeli military declined to comment on what type of drones it is using inside Gaza.

The increasing adoption of small, commercial drones is evident in conflicts around the world. Both Russia and Ukraine have relied heavily on quadcopters for surveillance and attacks, while Hamas used small drones as part of its Oct. 7 assault. Since then, thousands of commercial drones have made their way into the hands of Israeli soldiers on the battlefield and civilians looking to defend themselves.

The quadcopter has become a lifeline for Israel's smaller, less-equipped units, such as reservists called into battle after the Hamas attacks.

The drones, however, weren't expected to be used to explore tunnels. Israel originally used heavy robots connected to the surface through a cable to search the hundreds of miles of passages that Hamas has dug beneath Gaza. 

But the tunnel floors are often filled with trash, tripping up the robots, while some passageways were too narrow for them to operate.

Israel also tried using robotic dogs, but they are expensive and heavy.

The small drones can create 3-D maps of the tunnels, are completely untethered and can fit through small spaces. They can also create their own communications networks underground, with each small drone flying as far as it can before becoming a new relay node that will allow the next drone to fly further.

China's SZ DJI Technology is the world's largest maker of consumer drones, and its inexpensive quadcopters have become popular on the battlefield." [1]

 All it takes for Palestinian women to hang curtains in the tunnels is to render those drones useless.

1. World News: Small Quadcopter Drones Help Israel Navigate Hamas's Tunnels. Lieber, Dov.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 30 Dec 2023: A.6.