Mobius report 9/2023 – Qasef UAS Deployed as Loitering Munitions Attack Al-Tanf Garrison, Syria

On January 21, 2023, an Iran-backed Shiite militia operating in Iraq claimed responsibility for an attack in which three UAS deployed as loitering munitions attacked the Al-Tanf Garrison – a US base with a contingent of Syrian opposition forces – located in Homs Governorate, in southeastern Syria, near the border with Iraq. The attack was unsuccessful – two of the UAVs were intercepted near the base, and another landed in one of the compounds used by Syrian militants on the base, but caused only slight injuries and not much damage. A video allegedly showing the launch of the UAVs published by the group showed they were similar to the HESA Ababil or Qasef, known mainly from use in Yemen in recent years. UAVs of this model began to appear in Iraq in July 2022, and have since been documented in just a few incidents, including several attacks targeting foreign military forces – American or Turkish – by Shiite façade groups. This model, used by Iranian proxies in different arenas for several years, has proven its effectiveness and joins the diverse arsenal of weaponized Iranian UAVs in the hands of Shiite militias in Iraq, which they currently use to carry out targeted attacks against protected military targets, including those located hundreds of kilometers away. Documentation from several incidents shows the groups are experimenting with launching a number of UAS simultaneously (a swarm,) probably with the aim of confusing the air defense systems at the bases and facilitating even a partially successful attack.