IDF Builds New Corps to Counter Hostile Drone Threat

IDF Ground Forces Commander Maj.-Gen. Nadav Lotan is working to establish a new corps dedicated to countering low-altitude drone threats, Walla learned on Tuesday. The move follows more than a decade of trial and error. It’s a response to enemies who’ve turned cheap, hard-to-spot aircraft into weapons against soldiers and civilians alike.

The Security Picture

The threat became evident during Hamas attacks along the Gaza border at the beginning of the war and during the initial stages of the IDF’s ground maneuver deep into the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah later used drones against IDF troops in southern Lebanon and against civilians on Israel’s home front.

The danger doesn’t stop at the frontlines. Drones have also been used to smuggle weapons and drugs across the Egyptian and Jordanian borders. Smugglers have used particularly heavy drones capable of carrying payloads weighing dozens of kilograms. Concerns are growing that drones could become a significant threat in the IDF’s Judea and Samaria Division and along the Syrian border.

For more than a decade, the IDF has tried different ways to address drones operating close to the ground. Efforts accelerated after the October 7 massacre, as a worldwide push to develop solutions gathered pace.

Building the Corps

The IDF recently decided to form the low-altitude airspace defense corps using existing border infantry battalions. Initially, it will draw on five battalions that routinely protect the borders with Jordan and Egypt and the security barrier area in the West Bank. Alongside their existing responsibility for Israel’s land borders, they’ll protect against mobile threats in airspace close to the ground.

According to assessments, a sixth battalion will be the tactical air defense battalion established during the war in response to threats from Gaza and Lebanon, which emerged on an unprecedented scale.

The IDF will transfer significant Ground Forces resources to help establish the corps and supplement capabilities already available within the Border Defense Corps. Those resources will include additional training personnel to develop a drone school focused on defensive missions.

The Ground Forces already operate defensive drone capabilities. Unit 9900 of the Military Intelligence Directorate conducts intelligence-gathering operations with drones. The article said Military Intelligence could help develop combat doctrine, operational methods, the type and scale of procurement involving drones and related technologies, and training.

Racing to Close the Gap

The Defense Ministry and the IDF have accelerated projects to improve drone protection. Some involve Israeli companies; others involve buying technology from abroad. The IDF has begun deploying various defense systems in the field against different kinds of drones.

Fiber-optic drones rank among the hardest targets. Conventional militaries struggle to detect them. Armies generally counter them with nets, interceptor drones and ground-based gunfire. It’s a low-tech answer to a high-tech problem. The threat has outrun traditional air defense thinking.

The report was written by Amir Bohbot.

Why This Matters: Israel is organizing a standing military structure around a threat hostile armed groups and smugglers have already used across several fronts, from Gaza and Lebanon to the Egyptian and Jordanian borders. Concerns about drones reaching the Judea and Samaria Division and the Syrian border suggest the problem is spreading, not shrinking. For a country that must defend long, porous frontiers against actors who reject its existence, a dedicated corps reflects the reality that defense can’t be improvised on the fly. Whatever diplomacy follows, security planners are preparing for adversaries who adapt quickly and cheaply.