JERUSALEM (VINnews) — An internal document from the IDF Operations Directorate, distributed as early as May 2025 under the leadership of Major General Oded Basiuk, predicted the central threat now exacting a heavy toll on the northern front — fiber-optic guided explosive drones, military correspondent Doron Kadosh revealed on Army Radio.

The document stated that an area extending 15–20 kilometers from the line of contact had become an “exposed zone,” in which headquarters, parking areas, and troop movements are under constant threat.

Alongside the warnings, several solutions were proposed, including procurement of shotguns considered effective for downing drones at short range, protection of vital assets and command centers through autonomous firing systems, extensive use of overhead camouflage nets, and integrating the threat into military training and instruction.

Although the document was distributed to the Ground Forces, the Planning Directorate, and the Directorate of Defense Research & Development, the processes were not carried out in time. Only in recent weeks, after two soldiers and a civilian were killed and dozens wounded by this threat,  did the IDF and Defense Ministry begin emergency procurement of the shotguns and specialized ammunition that had already been deemed necessary a year earlier.

The document was based on an in-depth analysis of the battlefield between Russia and Ukraine, where the use of fiber-optic technology had already become an operational standard by 2024.

The explicit warning that the “rear area” within 20 kilometers was no longer safe has been fully realized in recent months, as forces on the ground have been forced to contend with the threat without the technological and physical defenses that were needed in real time.

On Wednesday, four more soldiers were injured in Southern Lebaon, one seriously, as a result of exploding fiber-optic drones.