Army of tomorrow's war. Time for a change

Perhaps Defense Minister Moshe Jaalon lacks diplomatic tact and ideological consistency, but he certainly understands his professional sphere, military strategy.
Clear evidence of this are the grand reforms that have been taking place in the Israeli army in recent years. Launched by the previous Minister Barak and continued by Ya'alon, they touched almost all spheres, from defense doctrine to the IDF structure.
The main reason for the transformation of the army, of course, was the dramatic changes in the Middle East, which significantly shifted the emphasis in the list of dangers threatening the Jewish state. And the main tool was the success of the Israeli defense high-tech, which provided the leadership of the army with adequate solutions for the entire spectrum of risks.
Just three years ago, one of the most important defense tasks of Israel was the need to confront the powerful armored formations of neighboring states. Today, there is little left of the regular troops of Syria or Iraq. Nevertheless, they were replaced by numerous and diverse terrorist organizations.
In the past, to understand the regional layout, it was enough to imagine the mentality of several neighbors-dictators. Today, Israel is obliged to keep abreast of many terrorist organizations - from Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah to various modifications and affiliates of Al-Qaida (ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra, Ansar Beit al-Mikdas " etc.). But at the same time to control the situation with the supply of arms from Iran through Sudan, Damascus, Beirut, the Red and Mediterranean Seas and other places. The number of factors that need to be monitored to prevent various threats in a timely manner has become enormous.
In knowledge is power
Therefore, the most significant transformation affected precisely military intelligence. According to the apt expression of the Israeli journalist Ben Caspit, who recently published an overview of the revolutionary transformations of the Israeli armed forces in the online publication Al-Monitor, the army used to have intelligence, now intelligence actually has an army at its disposal.
A few years ago, a cyber intelligence division was created (8200 division), soon to become one of the most knowledgeable and powerful in the world. His round-the-clock work involves thousands of people who use information from all available sources, including satellite imagery. Just as in the field of creating unmanned aerial vehicles, Israel firmly occupied a leading position in the world, the Jewish state simply cannot afford to have the best intelligence in the region.
In this case, the primary task of intelligence is not so much the collection of information, as the timely receipt of the data to the front line. The lack of coordination between intelligence and combat units was striking during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. Since then, the situation has changed. One of the lessons learned from the mistakes of this military campaign was the creation of an ad hoc group for each combat unit, ensuring that the necessary information was immediately available. Now representatives of the 8200 unit participate in the field officers' forums both during the planning of combat operations and directly during the operation, transferring data in real time.
Own "web"
According to Ben Caspit, in the near future, the Israeli army will acquire its own, developed in conjunction with Google, the Internet, allowing, for example, a combat helicopter flying over enemy territory to get along with aerial survey and all other useful information. Similarly, an infantry officer, looking through a binocular in a village in Lebanon, will instantly receive on the screen additional data of interest to him known to intelligence.
Underwater, in heaven and on land
Another major innovation was the use of unmanned systems, not only in the air, but also in the water and on the ground. In addition to the almost unmarked aircraft and ships along the border with Gaza, which have almost become a brand of Israeli military equipment, unmanned military vehicles are patrolling today.
According to the press service of the IDF, created by the Israeli firm G-NIUS, owned by the defense companies Elbit and Taasia Avirit, Guardium is designed to patrol, escort convoy, reconnaissance and security. Guardium is unarmed, but equipped with cameras that monitor in all directions. At the same time, it is extremely mobile and capable of transmitting images taken at different angles, collecting much more data than stationary cameras.
"Shields of David"
Nearly two hundred thousand rockets, reported by the head of military intelligence, Major General Aviv Kokhavi, targeted by Israel’s terrorists and capable of hitting any place in the country, require, in addition to a new doctrine, the maximum possible protection of the population and the army.
The Israeli missile defense system today includes not only the Hetz system, designed to intercept ballistic missiles, but also the Iron Dome, which can shoot down missiles with a range of up to 40 kilometers. Next year, the launch of the Magic Wand system, designed for missiles with a range of 40 to 70 kilometers, is planned. And at the beginning of the year, the defense concern Raphael announced at the exhibition in Singapore a laser system Iron Ray, opposing mortar shelling and short-range missiles.
A few days ago, the Israel Defense Forces introduced a new mobile radar, Wind Shield, capable of protecting armored and infantry units directly during the battle. By tracking real-time rocket and mortar fire and providing a warning, the radar allows you to quickly respond to the source of the fire.
Finally, the “Windbreaker” system (Trophy), created a few years ago, creates an individual defense for the tank, detecting and destroying an enemy missile launched in the direction of the tank with a response missile.
Faster and more accurate
In recent years, the Israeli Air Force reduced a large part of their squadrons. However, the effectiveness of the Israeli military aviation at the same time increased many times. Ben Caspit, in his article, referring to the words of a senior Air Force officer, said that today, in one day of combat missions, it is possible to hit as many targets as were destroyed during the entire Doomsday War. The combat mission, which would have occupied an entire squadron a week ago, is being carried out in an hour by one F-16 fighter using a mass of smart bombs and hitting many targets in different places at the same time.
Neither illumination nor weather conditions are already an obstacle. The Israeli Air Force is now not making two large sorties like in the morning and in the evening, but continuous mass sorties that do not depend on the time of day.
In addition, today the pilot may, in the course of a combat operation, talk with the commander of the ground unit, located only a quarter of a kilometer away from the defeat zone that is being processed by smart bombs at this time.
A significant expansion of functions and capabilities also occurred in the forces of the Israeli Navy. First of all, we are talking about Dolphin-class submarines. By the three already in service in the coming years will come from Germany three more. Having become the most expensive acquisition of the AOI (700 for millions of dollars each) and equipped with cruise missiles, supposedly capable of carrying also nuclear warheads, Dolphin submarines ensure the superiority of the Israeli Navy over the naval forces of the Islamic states of the Near and Middle East.
New deals
With the disappearance of a significant part of the armies of neighboring states absorbed by civil wars, the armored vehicle fleet in Israel was also reduced. Entire divisions, brigades and headquarters were abolished. At the same time, the number of heavy vehicles dropped sharply. At the same time, with the increasing importance of infantry units and commandos, the number of special forces has increased.
Previously, the basis of AOI was armored vehicles, supported by a small number of infantry and commando squads. Now the situation is the opposite - the IDF is reorganized into a set of specialized combat units with a large number of commandos and elite units and with little support for armored vehicles.
Each military district now has one division to carry out current tasks and one more to eliminate specific threats characteristic of the district. The remaining divisions of the General Staff can be redirected to any place as necessary.
A separate command was created for activities in the rear of the enemy. And the number of such operations is growing every year. Today, according to foreign sources, the AOI operates in Sudan, the Red Sea, Syria, Lebanon, and even in much more remote areas.
The collapse of the concept of "golden arches"
For a long time, among the top managers of the country's army leaders, the so-called concept of “golden arches” existed, they say, the countries that have McDonald’s branches never fight with each other. However, Russia's invasion of Ukraine proved the inconsistency of this rule.
The tragic experience of Ukraine, torn to pieces, once again proves that a country whose society is divided, the economy is unstable, and the army is weak, there is no chance of survival.
No agreement or guarantee of strong neighbors and allies will ensure neither security nor integrity, whether it happens in the Middle East, engulfed in fundamentalist frenzy, or seemingly in a much more balanced and tranquil Eastern Europe.
And so the only guarantee of the future for Israel is the integrity of its society, the stability of its economy and the priority of its military might, at least across the region.