IDF Holds Complex Joint Combat Exercise Demonstration
Kfir Soldiers Earn Their Berets
For First Time: Merkava Tanks are For Sale
New Protection for IDF Namer APCs
Internal IDF 'Arena' for eBay-Style Trade in Military Equipment
IDF Keeping the Peace and Preparing for War
New IDF Weapon Defends Soldiers against Psychological Warfare
IDF Updates Arms Strategy
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
by Elad Benari.
The IDF's Joint Combat Exercise held a demonstration on Tuesday at the Shizafon base, which is located in the Negev. The exercise took place in the presence of Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, Deputy Chief of Staff, Maj. Gen. Benny Gantz, and the Chief of the Ground Forces, Maj. Gen. Sami Turgeman.
The Joint Combat Exercise implements the collaboration between the different branches and corps in the IDF. Tuesday’s demonstration, which marked the beginning of a ten-day long joint exercise, focused on the abilities of the ground forces. Officers' Training School cadets from the infantry, engineering, armored, and artillery corps performed drills that combine various diverse combat techniques, including urban warfare, advancing through complex obstacles, using artillery support, and employing invasion techniques, along with aerial support of the Israel Air Force, including medical evacuations and aerial re-supplies.
The demonstration marked the first time that the IDF’s Merkava Tank Mark 4 and the "Trophy" (Meil Ruach) active tank defense system were presented. Meil Ruach is a new defense system against anti-tank missiles. Its power and effect were demonstrated by the firing of a dummy missile at the tank.
Chief of Staff Ashkenazi said during the exercise: “In any future conflict we will have to act quickly and in full force and transfer the fighting into enemy territory. This is a significant challenge and important decision.
“Those who cannot prepare people for war will not be able to lead you during war,” added Ashkenazi. “The modern battlefield presents many difficult challenges. We must be more professional than ever before. Leadership in the field relies on professionalism.”
Tammuz 7, 5770, 19 June 10 09:32
by Maayana Miskin
(Israelnationalnews.com) Trainee soldiers in the Kfir Brigade earned their berets on Thursday. A special ceremony was held for the 540 soldiers in Afula, which has adopted the brigade.
The ceremony was attended by Brigade Commander Colonel Oren Avman and by Afula Mayor Avi Elkabetz.
"For the past five years, [Kfir] brigade has been on the front lines of the war on terrorism, a war in which we changed the security situation here and brought quiet to Israel's cities,” said Avman. “In this war, we fought with determination, but with humanity.”
"You young soldiers are joining the camouflage family,” Avman said, referring to the camouflage-colored berets worn by Kfir soldiers. “It is a large and strong family, sworn to protect the state of Israel and its citizens, and it does so night and day.”
The Kfir Brigade is one of the IDF's most recent Infantry brigades. It is deployed in Judea and Samaria, and is tasked with counter-terrorist operations in those areas.
Kfir made the news in 2007 when 12 brigade members refused to expel Jews from a building in Hevron, and again in 2009 when soldiers waved a banner proclaiming “Kfir Brigade doesn't expel Jews.” Recently the brigade's former commander, Colonel Itai Virob, was put under investigation for saying that soldiers may use measures such as a slap or chokehold, to restrain terrorists who resist arrest or who it is feared are withholding information about the whereabouts of other terrorists who may be able to carry out the mission they were planning.
Afula has adopted the Kfir Brigade, and in 2008 built a memorial in the city for fallen Kfir soldiers.
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Tammuz 4, 5770, 16 June 10 10:26
by Malkah Fleisher
(Israelnationalnews.com) After a 30 year total ban on exports of Israel's famous Merkava tank, the Ministry of Defense will offer its latest model – the Merkava Mark IV – for sale to select buyers for the first time.
According to a report in Defense News, the decision is intended to assure that jobs associated with production of the tank stay in Israel, and to provide additional revenue to Israel's military. The Defense Minister recently announced that the Namer (Leopard) heavy armored personal carrier (APC) would soon be produced in the United States, not in Israel, leading to concerns that jobs would be lost.
Israel will coordinate Merkava orders – which will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis – with the United States. U.S. military aid to Israel finances the steel, raw materials, engine and certain other components of the tanks.
The Merkava ("Chariot") was conceived in the 1960s, with the first models joining the battlefield in 1978. The Merkava Mark IV is optimized for urban combat, with improved armor and a state-of-the-art digital battlefield management system, and is considered to be one of the world's most advanced and secure tanks.
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Tammuz 19, 5770, 01 July 10 04:05
by Hana Levi Julian
(Israelnationalnews.com) The IDF is about to acquire a new defense system for its Namer (Tiger) armored personnel carrier (APC) – the Spurred Arrow (Chetz Durban in Hebrew).
The system, produced by Israel Military Industries (IMI), will soon be the Namer's primary defense against rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), anti-tank missiles and tank shells.
It has also proven to be of great interest abroad: according to IMI Marketing Vice President Avinoam Tzapir, “Foreign militaries show great interest in purchasing [it]... since it is a precise system that makes it possible to organize joint combat operations of infantry corps and armored corps forces.”
Three central components comprise the system. The first is a set of detectors that includes an advanced radar detector and electro-optic detectors that identify the munitions fired at the vehicle in which the system is installed. The second element in the system is a computer that processes the data collected by the detectors, recognizes the threat and decides on the best way to neutralize it. The third and final component is a launcher that is equipped with interceptors and an electro-optic isolator that enables the Spurred Arrow to force anti-tank missiles to change their course and head off-target.
To deal with threats the isolator is unable to neutralize, an interceptor explodes in close proximity to the target, thus destroying it. The entire process takes place within a fraction of a second, according to the IDF Spokesman's Office, and is carried out automatically. The system will also enable operators to identify the source of enemy fire, making an immediate and accurate response that much easier.
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Tammuz 26, 5770, 08 July 10 10:52
by Maayana Miskin
(Israelnationalnews.com) As part of a plan to streamline Israel's military budget, the IDF has opened “The Arena,” an eBay-style website that allows for internal trading in military equipment. The site's opening on a closed IDF system was reported by Bloomberg news.
The Arena allows every IDF unit to sell unneeded equipment, and to buy excess equipment from other units. The site is the first of its kind, said Brigadier-General Maran Prozenfer.
The IDF spends approximately 20 billion shekels on equipment each year. Senior staff hope the new website will help the army avoid duplication.
So far, several million shekels' worth of inventory has been listed on the site. Units are currently selling items not related to combat, such as office supplies or appliances, but those behind the new site plan to add weapons sales as well in the future.
Excess non-combat items that are not sold between units will be sold to the general public via a Defense Ministry website.
The IDF is also offering a reward of 3,000 shekels to soldiers who come up with cost-cutting ideas.
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Nisan 9, 5770, 24 March 10 08:48
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
(Israelnationalnews.com) While Hamas resumes Kassam attacks on Israel civilians, the IDF wraps up a large-scale exercise under the Southern Command to prepare soldiers “for every possible scenario.”
The drill included regular and reserves soldiers for combat in the Gaza region, where the de facto Hamas government fired another Kassam rocket at Israel on Tuesday, narrowly missing a direct hit on civilians. Without any connection to the exercise, the Israeli Air Force Tuesday night bombed a weapons storage facility in the Gaza area in response.
The exercise was planned in advance as part of the annual training program and regular exercise plan in order to fully prepare soldiers. Officers implemented maneuvers based on lessons learned from previous exercises and during the Operation Cast Lead counter terrorist war last year.
Ground, air and naval forces and military intelligence branch participated in the exercise, stressing cooperation and coordination between the different bodies and military branches. Earlier this week, a soldier lost his life when comrades mistakenly fired on his tank unit in what apparently was the result of failing to communicate during a hunt for suspected terrorists who had infiltrated from Gaza.
One circumstance that complicated the terrorist hunting maneuver and may have resulted in the tragic death was the military order that the tank unit not fire artillery due to fears of possibly wounding civilians. Instead, the tank unit approached the separation barrier on foot and was thus mistaken for the infiltrators.
The military drill placed an emphasis on humanitarian aspects and maintenance of reasonable living conditions for Palestinian Authority Arab civilians in Gaza during combat. New weapons and information systems were integrated in order to improve the combat capability in the region.
The Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi visited the exercise in the Southern Command, which is under the command of Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant.
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Iyar 21, 5770, 05 May 10 02:51
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
(Israelnationalnews.com) IDF officers are learning how to help soldiers in the field respond to psychological methods used by the enemy to affect soldiers’ spirit and morale. New IDF guidelines for countering psychological warfare are scheduled to be approved by the end of this year.
The field of psychological warfare has developed dramatically the last few years due to various factors including the development of the media in Israel and worldwide. Terror organizations increasingly photograph and film attacks on IDF forces and publish them on television stations. For example, at the beginning of April 2010, Hamas published documentation of an incident in Kissufim, during which Maj. Eliraz Peretz and Staff Sergeant Ilan Sviatkovsky were killed.They also publicized a film about Gilad Shalit in which his father dreams of his death.
“Commanders must know important principles and concepts regarding the issue,” Battle Doctrine Department of the Operations Directorate explained to the IDF magazine BaMahane [In the Camp].
The enemy uses this modern warfare technique, employing propaganda and psychological methods to influence combat soldiers’ spirit and their morale, IDF spokespersons added. Hamas terrorist leaders have constantly used the kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit as a tool to try to break Israel's morale.
One of the recommendations for the commanders is to hold motivational conversations with their soldiers, so that their battle spirit cannot be negatively affected. “Our goal is that during the planning of any operational activity, the officers will be aware of the issue and will prepare their soldiers also for dealing with the enemy’s psychological battle tactics,” an officer added.
Among other things, the new Battle Doctrine will include concepts of psychological warfare, including that of ‘white messages,’ which come from a trustworthy source, as opposed to ‘black messages,’ whose distributor is unknown.”
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Sivan 2, 5770, 15 May 10 09:24
by Maayana Miskin
(Israelnationalnews.com) The IDF has revealed a new strategy designed to secure the army's weapons and ammunition in case of war. Over the past two years, the army has been shifting equipment in order to keep it secure.
The policy was revealed by head of IDF Logistics Brigadier-General Nissim Peretz on Wednesday in a conference at the Institute for National Security Studies.
Top commanders looked into various methods of protecting supplies, and ultimately decided that fortification was not the answer, Peretz said. The new strategy will allow the IDF access to supplies in case of war while protecting equipment from targeted strikes, he explained.
A second new IDF tool revealed this week is the Magna thermal camera system. The IDF website reported that the system, developed by the Magna Company in its Dimona branch, is being installed in the Hevron region.
The system combines thermal and regular cameras, and can scan several miles of space. Regional commanders hope the system will provide security in areas where there is no fence between Judea and pre-1967 Israel.
[Freeman Center Note: Considering the Jewish historical experience with weakness, ALL Jews (and, of course, Israelis) should be armed and able to defend themselves. Any attempt by the government to disarm Jews should be resisted by force. Better to die a free man than to live as a slave. Any attempt by the U.S, Europeor the UN to limit Israeli military freedom of action should be prevented!]
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WAKE UP O ISRAEL, THEY ARE COMING TO KILL US!...Bernard
The Freeman Center Salutes All Warriors of Zion
For Never Tiring of Telling the Israeli People
And the Jews Everwhere the Harsh Realities of Our Survival in A Cruel World.....Bernard
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