What kind of rockets and missiles does Hezbollah have in its arsenal?

Conflict is once again raging in the Middle East and the current fight between Israel and Hamas threatens to drag the whole region into the fighting. However, there is one group that the world should be worried about: Hezbollah. 

Hezbollah is a Shia Muslim group that was established in the 1980s by regional players such as Iran to oppose Israel in Lebanon during the country’s civil war. The group has gained a lot of political power since then according to BBC News. 

Hezbollah’s leaders control the most powerful armed forces inside of Lebanon and they have previously used their military might to attack Israeli and U.S. targets in the region, and now the group is focused on the new war in Gaza. 

On November 3rd, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah explained in televised remarks that the group's militia forces were already engaged in fighting along Lebanon’s border and threatened more escalation the Associated Press reported. 

Nasrallah told those listening that Hezbollah was prepared for all options and said that the group could “resort to them at any time.” The militia leader explained future fighting wouldn’t be limited to what was being seen at the moment. 

Between Hamas and Hezbollah, the latter is far more worrisome since the militia group claims to have thousands of fighters, as well as 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israeli settlements. This is a threat that Israel has taken seriously. 

Israel began evacuating dozens of communities in the north of the country not long after Hamas launched its attack in the south after Hezbollah began carrying out attacks using anti-tank missiles, rockets, and mortars according to The Jerusalem Post.

However, Hezbollah has far more devastating weapons in its arsenal that could be used against Israel. These weapons are thought to have been supplied by Iran, Newsweek’s Aila Slisco reported, and they include a wide variety of missiles and rockets. 

Hezbollah is thought to have a mix of unguided and short-range rockets as well as more advanced long-range missiles. Whether or not these missiles can hit targets anywhere in Israel is up for debate but it could be the reality Jearuselum faces. 

More specifically, Slisco noted that Hezbollah’s short-range rocket arsenal is made up of predominantly Soviet-style Katyusha rockets, which have a range of about 19 miles and are fired from a multiple rocket launch system. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Nick Lobeck

In 2018, The Center for Strategic and International Studies produced an overview of the rockets Hezbollah had in its arsenal and wrote that along with the Katyusha, the group had several other land attack rockets in its stocks. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Tasnim News Agency

These rockets included the Shahin-1, an unguided artillery rocket developed by Iran, as well as the Chinese Type-81, FALAQ-1, and FALAQ-1. All of these rockets have a range of roughly 5 to 15 miles. But Hezbollah also has heavier rockets as well. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By MojNews

The FAJR-3 and FAJR-5 are Iranian-made rockets that have a range of 26 miles as well as the Russian-made Raad-2 and Raad-3 rockets, which each have a range upwards of 43 miles. The Iranian ZELZAL-1 and 2 rockets have effective ranges of 100 miles. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Mohammad Sadegh Heydari

Hezbollah’s missile stocks are even more powerful than the group's rocket arsenal and they are thought to contain everything from anti-tank and anti-air weaponry to deadlier anti-ship and land attack projectiles. 

For example, Alia Slisco pointed out that the longest-range missile Hezbollah can fire is the Iranian-made Fateh-110, which can travel upwards of 186 miles. But the group may also have Russian-developed SCUD missiles, which have double the range of a Fateh. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Tasnim News Agency

Unfortunately, Hezbollah does have the ability to kill tens of thousands of people if a war between Israel and the militia group breaks out. Fighting between the two has only been sporadic so far but tensions are rising and the danger of full-scale war is real.