IDF's air defense too weak, land forces lack independence, sources say

IDF sources said that the land forces are too dependent on air support and lack sufficient volumes of vehicles for moving them from defensive lines to forward attack lines.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB DECEMBER 5, 2024 17:58

The Israel Missile Defense Organization conducts live-fire intercept tests of the David's Sling weapon system (photo credit: DEFENSE MINISTRY)

The IDF is weaker in all areas of air defense than it should be, not only in drones, and land forces lack a number of independent operating capacities which they should have to be ready for future threats, IDF sources said on Thursday.

While it is well-known that the IDF has had significant problems with shooting down drones as compared to shooting down rockets and ballistic missiles, the IDF sources' comments were an unusual admission that other aspects of air defenses also had holes.

One suggestion was for the land forces to receive a much larger number of their own tactical air defense platforms.

In other words, the way air defense currently works is that the air force manages a mix of aircraft, drones, Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Arrow 2 and 3, and coordinates with radar and communications of the land forces and sets a national strategy.

Included within this strategy is force protection of military troops near the border, but that is only one of many goals which the national air defense must manage.

The Israel Missile Defense Organization conducts live-fire intercept tests of the David's Sling weapon system (credit: DEFENSE MINISTRY)

This means that when Hamas, Hezbollah, or other adversaries would focus a larger than average amount of aerial threats on specific IDF troops, especially those close to the border, the national defense would often be overwhelmed and inadequate.

In contrast, IDF sources said that if battalion-level forces are given control of some of their own local tactical defenses against aerial threats which are focused just on them, they will have a much better chance to defend themselves, also given that they can collect physical data on defense which long-range radars usually miss.

None of this is to take away from the around 90% shootdown rate credited to the national air defense against rockets and 70-80% against drones, but at certain points, the land forces near the border have been struck more than some commanders think should have occurred.

Land forces are too dependent on air support

In addition, IDF sources said that the land forces are too dependent on air support and lack sufficient volumes of vehicles to move them from defensive lines to forward attack lines.

In the future, the IDF hopes to the land forces will have more regularly available hummer vehicles as well as to purchase many more JLV vehicles for fulfilling its missions and making moving larger number of soldiers faster and more efficient.  

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Currently, the IDF has a stunningly impressive 7,700 tactical drones being used by land forces, separate from how many larger strategic drones the air force is using.

Up until the current war, this number of drones was viewed as revolutionary in terms of empowering select battalion-level units to wield their own drone power.

During the war, these smaller tactical drones which cannot cover large areas, but which can be used to quickly check for enemy forces or ambushes at the nearby street and neighborhood area where IDF forces may need to advance, have been so invaluable, that it has been decided that their use should be much more standardized for all units.

The IDF plans to acquire another 15,000 such drones to more fully maximize surveillance and localized air support functions beyond what the Israel Air Force can reliably provide on a constant basis.

Moreover, the IDF has revolutionized the use of digital platforms and artificial intelligence in war fighting, but believes that there is significant additional work to be done to make such capabilities available all the time to a wider number of forward units. 

Also, the sources stated that too many IDF units are trained for one specific function, such as defense, offense, or intelligence collection, whereas they should be trained for multiple functions.

Altering training such that more soldiers will be trained for multiple functions will also alleviate some of the pressure on the IDF in terms of sufficient soldiers.

For example, the IDF wanted 12,690 new soldiers in the latest recruitment class in order to fulfil all of its required missions, but only succeeded in drafting 11,900 in that class, leaving it over 700 soldiers short.

This has not been true in key combat units, like the Golani and Givati brigades where the IDF’s recruitment has been 107-123% above stated goals.

Another major decision which the IDF has made has been to provide weapons to all rank-and-file lookouts who apply for them over the next four to six weeks.

This comes after a prior round of weapons were distributed to commanders of lookout units.

It also comes after wide ranging criticism that many of the lookouts who Hamas killed on the Gaza border on October 7, 2023, might have had a better chance to survive if they had not been situated so close to Hamas, and without their own weapons.

At the time, the strategy was based on a mix of technology warning other troops in advance of an invasion to come to the border as well as a small number of actual armed combat fighters who guarded the lookout posts.

In addition, some lookout posts, such as the position at Nahal Oz, are being permanently moved to slightly more defensible locations, which are also a bit further from the border.

IDF sources said that recruitment for lookout remains strong due to the military’s outreach to all parties involved in the issue and that the positions cannot be too far from the border without losing certain effectiveness standards.

In the broader picture, the IDF is now recruiting around 1,635 new female combat fighters per year and is now up to 7,514 female combat fighters, totaling 4,023 in 2017.

The IDF just initiated plans to integrate women into combat transport units last month and hopes to start integrating some women into tank units in 2025.

Additional units which the IDF hopes to establish will include an additional home land defense brigade of mandatory service soldiers, a new unit of infantry soldiers to handle explosives, and enlarging the Yahalom anti-tunnel units.

Further, the IDF plans to purchase an immense amount of new advanced ammunition and weapons for regular infantry and not only for more elite units, given that regular infantry now take a larger role in fighting.