IDF Expands Drone Defences at West Bank Barrier

The IDF plans to assign five border infantry battalions to a new corps focused on defending against low-altitude drones, including around the security barrier area in the West Bank. The battalions will keep responsibility for Israel’s land borders while taking on protection against mobile threats in airspace close to the ground.

IDF Ground Forces Commander Maj.-Gen. Nadav Lotan is working to establish the corps, Walla learned on Tuesday. The IDF recently decided to form the low-altitude airspace defense corps using existing border infantry battalions. It will initially draw on five battalions that routinely protect the borders with Jordan and Egypt and the security barrier area in the West Bank.

A new role for border battalions

The battalions will continue their current border duties alongside the new mission. They’re expected to address mobile threats operating close to the ground, where the IDF says different kinds of drones can challenge conventional detection and defence systems.

According to assessments, a sixth battalion may also contribute: the tactical air defense battalion established during the war in response to threats from Gaza and Lebanon. Those threats emerged on an unprecedented scale, the article said.

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

Threats across several fronts

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

The threat became clear 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 civilians on Israel’s home front.

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. The article reported growing concerns that drones could become a significant threat in the IDF’s Judea and Samaria Division and along the Syrian border.

Defence systems and military intelligence

The Defense Ministry and the IDF have accelerated projects to improve protection against drones. Some involve Israeli companies; others involve buying technology from abroad. The IDF has begun deploying different defence systems in the field against different kinds of drones, including fiber-optic drones, which conventional militaries find difficult to detect.

Armies generally counter fiber-optic drones with nets, interceptor drones and ground-based gunfire. The article didn’t specify which systems the IDF has deployed or where they have been placed.

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