IDF soldiers
IDF soldiersIsrael news photo: IDF website

The IDF will be incorporating a new tactical communication device into operational use in the coming months, the IDF Website reports.

Technology firm Elbit and the IDF jointly developed the new device called "Elad Yarok" ["Yarok" means green, and Elad is just a name – ed.], which is capable of communicating across radio frequencies as well as encrypted frequencies. The device will be integrated in all IDF units and is expected to enter service this coming April.

IDF Radio reported that the system will be placed inside tanks and armored personnel carriers. However, since each unit costs hundreds of thousands of shekels, the IDF is reportedly still undecided regarding the levels of command in which it will be used.

While being able communicate with all existing tactical radio transceivers, "Elad Yarok" will also allow the transfer of encrypted data over more advanced RPT (repeater technology) channels. It is also equipped with a durable touch screen, that coupled with the advanced capabilities, will deliver various data including video and photos, to commanders in the field in real-time.

"This is, in fact, the first time that anyone has been able to connect traditional radio transceivers to more advanced communication devices capable of delivering media. We are the first to successfully develop such military capabilities," a deputy commander at an IDF training base, Lt. Col. Yigal Padel, told IDF Website's Hadas Duvdevani. "The technology is progressing and the need for alternative avenues of transferring information is growing. We are living in a fast-paced world that moves on a broad spectrum of technology, and everything pertaining to moving information is essential to digitally integrated forces."

In the meantime, "Elad Yarok" will streamline the deployment of ground forces because most of its features are automatic, requiring no extra effort to navigate frequencies. "War has become a war of information. If the information arrives faster, the battle moves faster. What used to take two seconds will now take one. In the field, this is critical," explained Lt. Col. Padel.