Brigadier General Nir Halamish, head of the Department of Research and Development of the Ministry of Defense spoke at the 6th International Congress of Managed Unmanned Systems. The Congress was organized by the Israel Defense Israel portal.
Halamish said that by 2030 up to a third of the ground forces of the IDF will consist of automated systems.
The general recalled: "For 15 years we started with the theory of small drones - and today they have become the cornerstone of the IDF. Skimmers quickly conquered the civil world ".
Halamish added: "In reality, in 2001, a small program FCS. Its participants assumed that by 2015 a third of the US Army will be roboticized. In 2015, there were no robots in the US Army yet - but we came very close to this border - because on a civilian robots perform more and more functions. We will soon come to the situation in which robots will be integrated in the battlefield, and by 2030 up to a third of the ground forces of the IDF will consist of automated systems ".
The general said: "There is an incredible program MAFAT. Within its framework, a potential is identified that can lead to dramatic changes on the battlefield. Within the framework of this program, automated land systems. Ideas come from the civil world. Behind them are technologies that can introduce innovations into operational concepts. We should bring our expectations in line with the possible.
By 2030 there will be an army of robots without soldiers. What will be is a combination of machines with crews and remotely controlled systems. There will be missions in which only robots participate. Most of these systems have already been tested. Now it is necessary to formulate an operational concept ".
As an example, the general was led completely by a robotic military bulldozer D9, capable of performing missions that prove too dangerous for humans.
Halamish said: "We recently announced tenders in the field of full standardization. Tanks, infantry and artillery will be linked to observation drones, everything will be connected to a single information network. This will be the new IDF standard.
In three years we will receive a new system. She will move in front of the battalion. Collect intelligence information, patrol the perimeter, attack, select targets. She will know how to independently choose the most acceptable path, how to close the environment.
This is what will happen by 2020 - not only with the IDF. The whole world is moving in this direction ".
Halamish talked about the technological revolution that has been carried out in recent years by the Communications Corps and the Information Technology Center of the Ministry of Defense, which created a huge new infrastructure. As a result, there was a qualitative leap that gives the commander on the battlefield a new depth of the picture of what is happening.