IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir is starting concrete processes to advance his five-year plan for the military in a variety of areas.
On the agenda are plans to invent a defensive “beeper” program, integrate robots to a larger extent, use space as a battle arena, expand the use of artificial intelligence, and, on top of this, refurbish the more traditional tactics at the IDF’s disposal.
Zamir’s initiative could face challenges that might include reduced assistance from the US, early Israeli elections with no new budget passed, or sudden war.
According to the IDF, as part of its fresh plans to defend the border, it may seek to develop a game-changing “beeper” defense strategy, in reference to the beepers used to wound around 3,500 Hezbollah operatives simultaneously in September 2024.
It was unclear if the aforementioned plan or devices would be situated within the borders, on the borders, or planted within various enemy bodies, made ready to activate should they invade. But Zamir’s statement was the first time the IDF had discussed a defensive beeper operation as opposed to the offensive operation used against Hezbollah.
According to the military, the plan, dubbed “Hoshen” in reference to the biblical priestly breastplate, will be led by IDF Planning Directorate chief Maj.-Gen. Hidai Zilberman and will cover the years 2026-2030.
The implementation of the plan is expected to begin on April 1, but approximately 12 teams are already starting work to define their goals and tactics. In the near future, the various teams will present their plans in a seminar-style format to other parts of the IDF.
Israeli weapons budget
A notable aspect of the initiative will be the use of half of an NIS 350 billion budget that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently announced will be allocated from the national budget toward technological advancements and increasing Israeli weapons independence. Netanyahu announced these funds would be spent over a 10-year time frame.
The last such IDF multiyear plan, which was at least partially implemented, was “Tenufah,” developed by then IDF chief Aviv Kohavi. However, his plan was disrupted by Hamas’s October 7 massacre and the subsequent two-year war.
This war also prevented the most recent IDF chief, Herzi Halevi, from implementing his own multiyear plan, which was expected to be rolled out in late 2023 or early 2024.
Another area discussed by the army was the deployment of far more robots and autonomous systems. The idea is to use these new systems alongside air, sea, and land forces, sometimes operating independently and sometimes in coordination with human soldiers.
Regarding wars in space, the IDF said it will be necessary to develop a range of new capabilities and operations, indicating the military will invest across multiple new space-related fronts.
Iran recently launched additional satellites into space with Russian assistance, a growing trend causing fear among Israel and the West about these countries reducing prior advantages by Jerusalem and Washington in those areas.
Further, the IDF will seek to incorporate artificial intelligence more widely across all areas of military operations, including management.
To keep up with the ongoing rise of AI warfare, the military has also developed larger, more powerful data centers and will continue to invest more in this sector.
Other areas where the IDF is investing include rebuilding and restoring the military’s readiness and resilience for reservists, mandatory-service soldiers, and career officers after a long two-year war.
The army intends to invest in its human resources, recognizing the intense burden placed on soldiers during the war.
Part of the plan and funding will be based on already published lessons learned from the probes into October 7, part on lessons learned from later portions of the war, which have not yet been shared with the public and are still being discussed in the military. The last factor will concern anticipating how future threats will evolve.
Regarding the Israel Air Force, a notable new task is assigning them to support the land forces in preventing potential ground invasions.
In addition, the plan invests heavily in all elements of Israel’s multilayered air defense systems, including against constantly changing drone threats. Special attention will be given to expanding the use of Israel’s Iron Beam laser defense technology.
The air force is concerned about whether there will be sufficient funds to continue to purchase new F-35s and F-15Is as needed. Israel currently has 50 F-35s, dating back to 2016, as well as 50 F-15 A/B/C/D variants and 25 F-15I models from the 1970s.
The F-35s only need to be added, whereas the F-15s may eventually need to be replaced entirely.
All of this is also taking place as Israel and the US begin negotiations over the next memorandum of understanding (MOU). From 2018 to 2028, the US has committed to $38 billion of aid to Israel.
However, this is expected to change and will impact what Israel can invest in going forward.