IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir declared on Monday that the IDF must become a world leader in artificial intelligence and robotics, as he laid out the military’s plan to bring AI onto the battlefield.

Zamir spoke at a special forum on adopting AI in the military, held at the IDF’s new communications and technology campus in Be’er Sheva. The IDF General Staff and brigade commanders attended. Commanders were shown how AI can be built into the IDF’s defensive and offensive systems, and how it can be used to process and analyze information, speed up decision-making and make both operations and the organization more efficient.

“In recent years, the battlefield has been undergoing one of the fastest, deepest and most dramatic changes in military history,” Zamir said. “In order to meet the challenges of war and to win, the IDF has a responsibility and an obligation to be a world leader in innovation and transformation.”

The Chief of Staff stressed that the new technology also requires a change in thinking and leadership. “Commanders who do not know how to make full use of technology to their advantage will not succeed in carrying out their missions on the modern battlefield,” he said.

According to Zamir, artificial intelligence will become a central part of how the IDF fights on multiple fronts, improving intelligence, decision-making and operations. As part of the move, the IDF has set up a new branch for artificial intelligence and unmanned systems, along with an AI division and a spectrum division within its communications and cyber defense directorate.

Zamir also presented the IDF’s vision for future combat, in which manned units fight alongside unmanned systems to gain an operational edge on the battlefield. The plan is being advanced as part of the IDF’s multi-year force-building program, called Hoshen. Zamir closed by noting the importance of the new campus being in Be’er Sheva, saying the future of the IDF and the future of the Negev are tied together.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)