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

Source: Jerusalem Post

Land forces too dependent on air support and lack sufficient volumes of vehicles to move them from defensive lines to forward attack lines.

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

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.

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 that 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 the land forces will have more regularly available hummer vehicles as well as to purchase many more JLTVs (Joint Light Tactical Vehicles) forfulfilling its missions and making moving larger numbers of soldiers faster and more efficient.  

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