IDF computer operators. Photo: IDF

JNS.org – The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is expected to complete construction of a new cyber defense “command pit” in the coming weeks, as part of the military’s efforts to enhance its cyber capabilities and transition to becoming fully digitalized.

The announcement was made Wednesday by Brig. Gen. Danny Bren, commander of the Lotem (Telecommunications and Information Technology) unit of the IDF Teleprocessing Branch (or C4I Corps). The corps is responsible for all areas of teleprocessing and communications in the IDF.

“Israel is the only democratic country whose enemies wish to destroy it both physically and cybernetically, and they say so openly,” Bren, who is leaving his post next month after three and a half years in the role, told reporters in a briefing about teleprocessing and technology in the IDF.

“This is what we must contend with, simultaneous to defending against cybernetic terrorism and cyber threats that many other countries face,” said Bren. “The IDF is doing all it can to meet the challenges, physical and cybernetic, and the Teleprocessing Branch plays a significant role in that. The commanders have to understand the need to transition into the digital age and internalize that the age of compartmentalized branches [of the army] is over.”

On the consolidation of the military’s teleprocessing systems, Bren said that the IDF “is changing the way it is fighting — from monolithic thinking to digital thinking, led by the C4I Corps and Lotem, as the central operational body.”