The recent

Air Defense Command soldiers

(Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)

The IDF is most concerned about the terror group’s precision missiles, and accordingly, the Air Defense Command has expanded dramatically. A new Iron Dome battalion was established with soldiers brought on from other units; there has been a roughly 50% increase in dedicated recruitments in recent military induction cycles, and more radars have been deployed in the north — the most sought-after resource due to many instances where detecting drones and activating sirens has been difficult. One such example was the fatal incident in Hurfeish last week, where one reserve officer was killed and others wounded.

The IDF also restored old Vulcano rockets that had been put out of use, that were deployed mainly in the Galilee in an attempt to deal with Hezbollah’s low-flying and slow drones. that cover a range of only a few kilometers, making them hard to detect — let alone intercept. These drones are launched from the cover of brush in South Lebanon’s valleys and fly along carefully chosen paths to evade IDF detection.

“We understand that Hezbollah will try to strike our air defense sites in a broad military conflict, to clear the way for attacks on Israel. Therefore, we’re preparing accordingly to protect our air defense systems with various means and methods,” military officials said. “We are prepared and our soldiers trained for such an event and have alternative defensive sites to operate from should any be struck. “

The officials said that if and when swarms of drones would target valuable assets deep within Israel, defenses would be able to detect them and respond more effectively than they had closer to the border, because of the longer range.

Air Defense forces have been on high alert since October 7. They have contended with false alarms activating sirens, especially over possible drone attacks. The military has also had to cut down training time for forces because of operational needs.

“The intensity with which we operated against Gaza will be different in the north, and we don’t have the technologies needed to train our troops while they are already operational,” the officials said. “Even forces such as the U.S. or Ukrainian militaries which are much larger than the IDF – struggle to respond adequately to drone attacks. There’s no magical solution.”