‘If not part of the network, you don’t exist’

(April 1, 2021 / JNS) In March, the Israeli Defense Forces conducted a live fire exercise involving attacking helicopters, tanks, engineering units and the recently established Elite Multidimensional Unit (MDU).

The MDU consists of a combination of infantry, armored corps, reconnaissance and air personnel. Its main mission is to act in any battle arena to quickly deploy and destroy enemy targets through multiple domains (air, ground, cyber, electromagnetic spectrum, etc.).

The purpose of the exercise, according to a report by Israeli Defense Magazine, had to prove the ability of a unit to attack multiple targets simultaneously within minutes in a large area.

The members of the unit were equipped with the Torch-X system, made by Elbit Systems, which allows field commanders to see all relevant data on the battlefield on one screen.

“IDF is the most advanced army when it comes to using the combat network,” Erez Peled, vice president at Elbit Systems and head of marketing and business development at C4I and Cyber, told JNS.

Torch-X, he explained, integrated data from the three branches of the IDF – ground, air and naval units – to create a combat network. In the past, he said, traditional military battles were “hierarchical.”

This meant that battalion or brigade commanders had to plan their missions according to the resources at their disposal. “Clearly, this kind of battle is no longer effective,” Peled said. “Switching to the network means that it is possible to connect all sensors to all shooters. This is the optimal way to use resources. “

He said: “When you go online and you want to find information, you want reliable information and access to it when you need it. The same goes for the network battle. If I’m a battalion commander, I want to know what’s interesting to me in an area and be able to act deadly by sending ammunition to targets. “

Now the IDF brigade is no longer limited by its own resources. It can receive intelligence from a neighboring brigade or from a soldier on another mission conducting a surveillance zone, as they are all connected to the same network.

“All generated information that could be of interest to the commander is shared with him and he can use it in real time,” Peled said. As a result, the era of hierarchical battle is over and the battlefield has become a “flat” network of current data.

“A lot of data can be sent”

Peled outlined scenarios in which Torch-X would operate: The system would notify a battalion commander that the helicopter had the appropriate ammunition to hit the target, threatening its strength, and do so with the least risk of further damage. All the commander has to do is approve the strike.

“In today’s battlefield, this is the difference between completing a mission successfully or not. Goals are dynamic and time-critical. “If I fail to hit them after opening with the most suitable ammunition, I will be unable to carry out the mission,” he said.

Torch-X will connect the ground forces with the Israeli air force and navy. Instead of personnel speaking orally on the radio, trying to determine the location of the target, a software-defined radio-based network will allow for the immediate sharing of target locations between ground and crew.

The fact that the networks are broadband means that “a lot of data can be sent,” Peled said. “If you are not part of the network, if you are not a station in it, you do not exist. This is a modern battle. “

Australian serviceman using Torch-X digital technology. Credit: Courtesy of Elbit Systems.

This is nowhere more relevant than the city war – the type of battle that Israeli opponents, such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, have chosen.

However, infantry soldiers at the front should not be overwhelmed with an endless amount of inappropriate information, Peled warned. A simple graphical user interface should only present the relevant data. “That’s why we’ve invested a lot in algorithms and artificial intelligence for data management,” he said.

Torch-X and the network combat solution consist of three layers: Software-defined radio for wireless communications (this is what connects aircraft, ships and ground forces); a network layer that connects all the different means of tactical communication; and a layer of applications and algorithms that process and manage the data.

The next step in this competition in arming cats and mice is to introduce more artificial intelligence.

Peled noted that part of the concept was inspired by lessons learned from the US terrorist attacks of September 11, 20021, when it became clear that firefighters in New York were unable to communicate with other types of responders because they all had their own own communication network.

“Torch-X equalizes the network – all I need to know is where I want to send this data and the network builds itself,” he said.

When an armored vehicle disappears behind a hill and is out of radio range, the system knows how to manage the data so that the moment the vehicle reconnects, it receives the missing data from the tactical cloud.

Torch-X itself recommends who can shoot at the target; it can be an air, land or sea unit that has the ability to be engaged.

“Highly adapted to their specific requirements and nuances”

Elbit has also sold versions of the system to NATO military members. For these clients, international military cooperation is vital and the system is designed to allow coalition members to share data seamlessly based on NATO standards.

International clients include Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. “The solutions are highly adapted to their specific requirements and nuances,” explained Peled.

The technology is designed not only for higher mortality and reduction of concomitant damage, but also to significantly reduce the risk of friendly fire.

“Goals are dynamic and time-critical.”

“If you ask a pilot what worries him the most, he makes sure he knows where all his forces are on the ground. He now has a system that automatically provides him with this information, accurately and digitally, plus video broadcasts from the ground, “Peled said. “The pilot can act on targets quickly and without the need for radio dialogue.”

For their part, opponents do not rest on their laurels; they are also increasing their capacity to hamper the activities of IDs in built-up areas.

The next step in this race to arm cats and mice, Peled said, is to introduce more artificial intelligence, taking away most of the commanders’ workload.

“In some cases, they will approve the action, and in other cases they will not have to,” he said. “There will be more and more unmanned systems operating in complex urban areas. This forces more “eyes” to cover many more areas. Unmanned surface and air systems will work in combination. This is a natural evolution of the battle network. “