|
Trending Topics
|
How Big Data Is Preparing the IDF for 21st-Century Combat
(JNS.org) Yaakov Lappin - In the not-too-distant future, as an Israel Defense Forces battalion commander surveys a Gazan neighborhood, the locations of enemy gunmen hiding in apartments will be visible, marked in red by the augmented reality military glasses he's wearing. He will pass on the coordinates of these threats to Israel Air Force aircraft hovering overhead, which will promptly destroy the targets. Or with the push of a button on the screen of a tablet-like device, the commander could order an Israel Navy missile ship miles away to launch a precision strike on the target. Maj. Assaf Ovadia, head of the IDF's Combined Operations Department, said, "Our ability to handle big data means we can bring information very rapidly to the end user in the field." During the 2014 conflict with Hamas, a terrorist naval commando cell from Gaza swam north and landed on Zikim beach on Israel's southern coastline. "An observations soldier saw suspicious activity on the beach. She transmitted data in real time to ground and air units. Then, a dialogue began between a tank commander and the air force. The units coordinated their firepower against the targets." The network allows the military to identify and destroy a target in far less time.