Facing More Powerful Enemies, IDF Steps Up Training

The Fellowship  |  March 7, 2017

A young soldier in a full uniform and helmet while on top of a tank.
Facing More Powerful Enemies

Each day, it seems another of Israel’s many enemies is making threats against the Jewish state, if not directly attacking the nation’s borders and people. Because of the increasing strength of those who would harm Israel, Yaakov Lappin writes at JNS, the IDF has proportionately increased the scope and frequency of its troops’ combat training:

In the event of any future large-scale conflict—whether it be against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and possibly in Syria, where Hezbollah has a heavy presence; against Hamas in Gaza; or against other foes in other arenas—Israeli military planners believe they will need a ground offensive involving maneuvering divisions, in addition to the use of massive firepower against enemy targets. 

Should Israeli military formations need to cross borders to engage enemies and extinguish rocket fire on the Israeli home front, they will have to deal with heavily armed guerrilla-terrorist forces—entrenched in the middle of built-up civilian areas—with access to tunnels, underground bunkers, anti-tank missiles, mortars, machine guns and mines…

Technological breakthroughs have allowed the IDF to merge the digital command networks of all three branches. They also allowed the army to create a single digital command network for all ground units, including an interactive map showing the location of hostile and friendly forces.  

Many of the new developments have had a profound impact on cooperation. Tanks, for example, can receive live intelligence feeds from drones or fighter jets, and battalion commanders can instantly transmit enemy target coordinates to a navy missile ship, which can then attack with guided sea-to-shore missiles. 

Further, the IDF’s Military Intelligence Division, in the course of a battle, can send information on enemy targets as it receives it, making the targets come alive on digital maps accessed by commanders in the field. 

The IDF has realized how acute integration is, and has invested in technologies that link intelligence collectors, field units, and units that deliver firepower, Chorev said…

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