Urban warfare creates unique challenges in the cyber and technology sphere, according to Col. Oren Matzliach, head of IDF digital architecture.
In urban settings, there are unusual difficulties with networked communications as well as with combating hidden enemies and those who use terrorist tactics that violate the laws of war, he said in a Cybertech and Israel Defense video conference on Tuesday.
In the midst of these challenges, the IDF is developing a range of new technologies for fighting in urban settings, including semi-autonomous attack vehicles, Matzliach said, adding that his department must be ready to integrate these new technologies seamlessly for combat forces.
Matzliach’s department is working hard on new and more efficient ways to share intelligence, direct fire at multiple targets and to perform diagnostics on the effectiveness of specific weaponry, he said.
As part of these efforts, his department altered the IDF’s digital architecture from a more closed and less flexible format to a more open format that is more user friendly for integrating new technologies and updates, Matzliach said.
Also at the conference, Israel National Cyber Directorate head of strategy and enhancement Ruth Shoham discussed recent cyber developments during the coronavirus period.
She spoke about new cyber and technology developments dealing with medical devices and regarding the transportation sector.
During the coronavirus period, many IDF soldiers were given an unscheduled intense cyber crash course while at home, which normally might have taken much longer to provide, Shoham said.
She and Communication Ministry director-general Nati Cohen spoke about the state’s cyber units’ careful attention to cyber-security relating to 5G mobile-network issues.
Both Cohen and Shoham said the coronavirus period had forced Israeli cyber agencies to substantially up their game to defend the massive increase of Internet-based platforms for virtual meetings in lieu of in-person meetings.
Whereas the amount of data his ministry handles would usually double over a one-year period, Cohen said the volume has already doubled in the few months of the coronavirus crisis.
Brig.-Gen. Ziv Avtalion, head of IDF digital transformation, spoke about four main goals he is trying to achieve.
First, his unit is trying to use cyber abilities to make combat troops deadlier and faster against enemies who often try to use guerrilla-warfare tactics to attack and disappear.
Second, his unit is focused on translating the enormous volume of intelligence data it collects into something that is useful and operational.
Avtalion said the other two benchmarks are to revamp procedures so that digital technology is being used optimally to streamline all activities and to improve training of the next generation of soldiers so they will be more accustomed to constantly evolving technologies.