The IDF has decided to increase the combat training for battalion communication
officers who will be needed to operate the growing number of digitized
communications systems.
The army made the move in preparation for
conflicts deep behind enemy lines.
In addition, the IDF recently
established a position within battalions for soldiers who will be in charge of
operating the Tzayad Digital Army Program. The Tzayad system connects a
division’s platforms and enables commanders to see the position of friendly and
enemy forces.
In addition, commanders can use Tzayad to transfer targets
from one weapons or detection platform to another.
“The communications
officer is becoming one of the most crucial posts within the battalion today,” a
senior officer in the IDF’s C4I (command, control, communications, computers,
and intelligence) Directorate explained this week. “The increase in
sophisticated systems and the reliance on them on the battlefield means that the
communications officers need to be right there next to the
commanders.”
In recent years, the army has revamped communications
systems within its fighting units. In addition to the integration of Tzayad, the
IDF signed a deal with Elbit Systems earlier this year to replace its tactical
communication systems with encrypted devices that can also transfer
data.
“Twenty years ago there was only encryption device in a battalion
because of how low-tech the systems were,” the officer said. “Today there are
over 150 encryption devices due to the increase in systems and their
importance.”
The C4I Directorate has, for example, purchased aerostat
balloons that can carry antennas to provide coverage for IDF secure Rose
Mountain mobile phones even far from Israel.
“The next war will require
the IDF to operate in all sorts of different places and not just along the
border, and we need to know how to make sure that the forces will be able to
move forward with communications systems that work,” he said.
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