The IDF is planning to supply soldiers in southern Lebanon with specialized frangible ammunition as part of its efforts to counter Hezbollah’s explosive drone threat, Kan News reported on Tuesday evening.

According to the report, the ammunition consists of 5.56mm frangible rounds, purchased from the US and adapted for use in the M-16 and Tavor assault rifles used by IDF soldiers.

The rounds are designed to fragment immediately after being fired, dispersing into five steel pellets and significantly improving the likelihood of striking aerial targets such as drones and UAVs. Similar ammunition has proven effective on the battlefield in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

A delegation from the IDF’s Ground Forces recently traveled to the US and carried out operational tests on the ammunition. Following the successful trials, the commander of the Ground Forces approved the purchase of hundreds of thousands of boxes of the rounds from the U.S.

The first shipment is expected to arrive in Israel next week.

The IDF plans to provide combat units with dedicated magazines loaded with the specialized ammunition, allowing soldiers to quickly respond to drone threats using their standard-issue weapons.

At the same time, additional operational guidelines have been issued to troops in the field, including instructions to deploy protective nets over buildings and military equipment to reduce vulnerability to drone attacks.

Meanwhile, the IDF is equipping soldiers in Lebanon with hunting shotguns as a stopgap measure to counter the drones.

Military officials believe the combination of frangible ammunition and physical defensive measures could significantly reduce the effectiveness of Hezbollah’s drone attacks in southern Lebanon.

The IDF announced on Wednesday that two soldiers were injured, one moderately and one lightly, in a Hezbollah explosive drone attack earlier in the day.

Explosive drones fired by Hezbollah have killed three IDF soldiers and injured 33 since the so-called ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon began.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)