How Drones Transformed Modern Warfare Across Israel's Borders
IDF drones have become a vital operational tool on the Syrian, Gazan, and Lebanese fronts, transforming offensive and defensive combat while overcoming initial electronic warfare challenges.
Three suspects approached the Israeli-Syrian border fence from the Syrian side. Soldiers from the 595th Combat Intelligence Collection Battalion of the Bashan Division quickly launched several drones. One drone spotted the trio bending down and tampering with the ground, indicating an attempt to plant an explosive device.
Another drone, known in the IDF as the "Bat," flew quietly above one of the suspects, identified as a terrorist, and dropped an explosive charge that injured him. His two accomplices quickly retrieved him and fled eastward. Drones have rapidly integrated into the military system over the past three years, becoming one of the most swiftly adopted operational weapons.
"The drone changes the rules of the game. It has entered combat very significantly in recent years, and as A. said, it truly changes the way forces operate," says Lt. N., Head of the Exposure Branch at BISLACH. "It has both collection and attack capabilities. In defense, as we currently know along the Yellow Line, in Gaza, and also in Lebanon, the drone allows us to gather information and intelligence on the enemy without exposing our forces to them. That is, I can conduct collection without endangering the soldiers in the field, and in defense, that makes a very significant difference," adds Lt. N.
According to him, drones are a significant tool not only in defense or routine security operations. "In offense, too, the situation has completely changed. Today, there is no force fighting in Gaza or Lebanon that does not deploy a drone prior to entry." There is a technique we call 'ramrod,' which became entrenched during the fighting following the lessons we learned. We understood that before a force enters and makes contact with the enemy, a preliminary scanning phase must be carried out. The objective is to understand what is in the location we are about to enter: whether the area is safe, whether there is a charge there, and whether there are terrorists hiding and waiting to ambush the force.
"Therefore, in offensive combat, almost no military force advances today without a drone in the air." At a Givati Brigade reconnaissance outpost on the Yellow Line in the Gaza Strip, drone operator teams from the reconnaissance unit trained on Monday. BISLACH instructors traveled to the outpost to conduct the training.
Cpl. A., a drone instructor, says with shining eyes: "This is truly a crazy tool, which entered very significantly precisely during the war years. The world of drones greatly assists fighters in the field. I have heard more than once from soldiers that this tool has saved human lives, and this is truly a capability that can make a very significant difference.
"The drone can not only attack, but also observe and collect intelligence without endangering our soldiers. In my opinion, the fact that it has integrated so deeply into operational activity is very significant."
The Challenge of Electronic Warfare and Interception
Not everything is rosy, however. At the beginning of the war, not all of the IDF believed in a tool that arrived, in a sense, from children's toy boxes. It sounded almost childish to launch a drone in the middle of Jabaliya. It can be said that the elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar by BISLACH fighters ultimately gave the stamp of approval to the necessity of the drone on the modern battlefield. The video showing Sinwar attempting to strike a drone sent to scan the building where he was hiding demonstrated the tool's ability to generate a qualitative advantage on the battlefield.
The first tools introduced into the IDF were integrated less systematically, and the opposing side often exploited this to take control of the tools and even "steal" them in mid-air. This happened more than once on the northern border during the fighting against Hezbollah.
Lt. N. recounts that "at the beginning of the war, there were indeed various GPS disruptions. Today, our drones are much freer in the skies, and it is much harder to harm them or take control of them. We have reached a situation where every force located at the Yellow Line outposts effectively has a drone war room, and a drone is always in the air. There is no situation where forces operate in the field without a drone accompanying them from above, observing for them and conducting scans."
Lt. N. explains that the other side's ability to take control of an IDF drone is lower today: "Today this happens less, mainly because we are learning and drawing conclusions. The specific drone A. instructs on also has the ability to deal with this threat. It has the option to operate in a different mode, where on the one hand drone control is more complex, but on the other hand it is also much harder for the enemy to take control of it and transfer it to themselves. This is related, among other things, to the world of GPS."
The IDF vividly remembers the disaster of the Shayetet in Ansariya exactly 29 years ago. One assessment was that Hezbollah connected to the transmission of the IDF drone that scanned the operation area days earlier. Hezbollah estimated that the IDF intended to operate in the area based on the drone footage and prepared an ambush there.
Lt. N. was asked whether the capability to "steal" information or video from the drones exists. "The same principle of flight control. You can liken it to a sort of GPS shutdown. The drone still allows me to perform the capabilities I need from it, but makes it very difficult for the enemy to take control of it or extract information from it.
"This is part of the lessons we learned from the combat. At the beginning of the war, it was not like this. We had to, to some extent, experience the mistake in order to learn from it."
All drone operators are combat soldiers who received the drone specialty as part of their equipment allocation. Cpl. A. explains what is required of a drone operator: "First of all, flight capabilities. This is something one learns and acquires gradually. As the fighters train more, touch the drone more, and fly it more, their capability improves. In the beginning, it is a skill that must be learned, and slowly it becomes part of their operational routine."
