Eitan, Merkava and Next Gen Tank path laid out for the IDF...

JPost.com

The Armored Corps is fighting more and more unconventional wars and facing new enemy tactics.

According to Matzliach the main challenge facing it today is the “disappearing enemy,” which arrives, attacks and retreats within seconds.

If in previous wars it was usually clear where the enemy was located, today’s enemy is decentralized and much harder to get a fix on, he said. They have become “time sensitive targets,” Matzliach said, adding that the challenge is to strike them immediately after they are detected.

“Man is not capable of processing all the information when it comes to the disappearing enemy,” he said, comparing the sensors and computer in the “Barak” to the WAZE navigation system that makes things easier for drivers.

“We understand that we need a real-task computer in the tank to fuse all the information together, to present it to the tank commander so he can be able to make only the most important decision... so he can really see and identify the target and analyze situation in order to make the decision to shoot or not.”

As a “smart-tank” the “Barak” will have fused sensors and a task computer that will present all information to both the crew inside the tank as well as to other tanks and vehicles present in the field. The simplification and sharing of intelligence and information via C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence) and the interoperability of all vehicles is crucial for more accurate and quicker hits.

In addition to the “Barak,” which is set to be ready within the next few years, Matzliach also described the Defense Ministry’s new wheeled armored personnel carrier, known as the “Eitan,” or “Steadfast,” which recently finished its first round of operational testing with the Nahal infantry brigade.

Replace the aging M113 APC, the “Eitan” will be able to carry 12 soldiers – including the commander, gunner and driver – who will enjoy more comfortable seating, air conditioning and touch-screen systems offering a 360-degree view of the battlefield.

The Israelis are taking a terrible gamble.

It appears that they're almost betting that they will not face another nation state military.

They're heading toward an all counterinsurgency/terrorists force all the the time type force.

That's a mistake in my opinion.

Skillsets required to face nation state forces automatically translate to counterinsurgency/terrorist forces.  It doesn't work the other way around. What happens when they go up against a Hybrid Warfare type situation? What happens when Iran (just a hypothetical) pushes Syria to work with Hezbollah to put its rebuilt Army against the IDF?

I worry that the Israelis are making the same mistake that the Bush Jr Admin Dept of Defense did.  They made an assumption that a generational war against terrorist would be allowed by the citizenry.  Talk of a 50 plus year war in Afghanistan and Iraq was bandied about.  So was a decades plus fight in Syria by the Obama DoD discussed publicly.

No nation can sustain combat for that long.

The Israelis are chasing a fad.  They will either crush the terrorists and make them irrelevant or they will face an enemy that has morphed beyond comprehension (they have to a certain extent already...we've seen mechanized battle groups being operated by terrorist groups).  This might be a tragic mistake on their part.