Thailand's military puts Israeli ARBEL anti-drone fire control on its existing rifles

Thailand's armed forces have started using ARBEL, an Israeli fire-control system meant to help infantry shoot down small drones with their ordinary rifles. Israel Weapon Industries, known as IWI, said on Thursday 22 October that it had delivered the ARBEL Anti-Drone System to Thailand's Ministry of Defence, and that after the system was fitted to existing rifles and troops were trained on site, it was deployed and operational for use by day and by night. The Israeli business paper Globes first reported the purchase, citing unnamed sources.

Globes said the sale marks the system's first entry into operational service in East Asia, after it had been put into use, or was still being integrated, in about 25 other countries. Neither the company nor the reports gave the number of rifles converted, the units that received them or the value of the contract.

ARBEL works by taking over the trigger. The first round fires mechanically, as in any rifle, but while the shooter keeps the trigger pressed the system sets the rate of fire, so the soldier can concentrate on tracking and aiming at a small target that moves fast and unpredictably. According to the company material reported by JNS and EDR Magazine, it needs no external sensor or separate platform, fires standard 5.56mm ammunition and works with a wide range of sights.

IWI offers the system either in a complete rifle of its own manufacture or as a conversion of a customer's existing weapon, and Thailand's defence ministry chose the second option, JNS reported. The conversion replaces the rifle's lower receiver, which lets soldiers keep a weapon they already know. EDR Magazine said the company presented this as a way for armed forces to upgrade their inventory without buying new rifles.

Thai military officials are discussing a further order with IWI, the reports said. Globes added that the company was in talks with other Thai military bodies and with other countries in the region, with possible deals expected within a few months, and IWI said several Southeast Asian countries were at various stages of buying the system. An IWI parent company executive said in the release that small tactical drones have become a direct and growing threat to soldiers on the battlefield.

The deal adds to a run of Israeli purchases by Bangkok. IntelliNews reported that the Royal Thai Air Force plans to buy Rampage stand-off missiles from Israel Aerospace Industries together with Elbit penetration bombs and guidance kits, and that Thailand moved last December to speed up a deal worth more than 100 million dollars for the Barak MX air defence system. The outlet also said IWI rifles and machine guns had been used extensively along the Cambodian border during recent frictions.

For Thailand, the choice is a low-cost answer to the drone threat at the level of the individual soldier. Converting rifles already in service avoids a new weapon and a long training cycle, though it gives infantry only a close-range layer of defence against drones rather than replacing sensors and dedicated counter-drone systems.