Defense Ministry Director-General Hails AI as ‘Game Changer’

Photo Credit: Dror Sithakol / Lense Productions

Israel Defense Ministry Director General Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir at the first International Defense Tech Summit. Dec. 10, 2024

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming a game changer in the field of defense, according to Defense Ministry Director General Maj.Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, who made the statement in opening remarks Tuesday morning at the first International Defense-Tech Summit.

Led by the IMOD’s Directorate of Defense, Research & Development (DDR&D) in collaboration with the Blavatnik Cyber Research Center at Tel Aviv University, the summit brings together senior officials from the DDR&D, IDF, defense industries, academia, entrepreneurship, startups, and venture capital funds.

Zamir dedicated much of his lecture to the artificial intelligence and autonomy revolution and his decision, being implemented these days, to establish a dedicated organization at the DDR&D for AI and Autonomy.

“AI isn’t just another innovation – it is a complete game-changer,” Zamir emphasized.

“It is a revolution that brings new knowledge to every aspect of life, including defense capabilities. Whoever adapts first gets a massive advantage. If you are not all in technology, you will fall behind.

“This may sound visionary, but the future battlefield will allow swarms of mixed combat units – men and unmanned systems fighting together or fully autonomous units operating as one, capable of making their own decisions,” Zamir said.

The Israel Defense Forces are already implementing this strategy. Various types of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and robots carry out reconnaissance for ground forces, with fighter pilots following up with targeted airstrikes. Sometimes the drones are used to attack as well, carefully guided by human specialists.

“In the next 10 to 15 years, maybe sooner, AI robots in land, air, and sea will dominate a fully networked battlefield,” he predicted.

“Make no mistake,” he warned. “In the near future, we will continue to empower our forces, and we must embed these new abilities to be more efficient and save lives.”