IDF soldiers advancing on objective
IDF soldiers advancing on objectiveFlash 90

"The chances of war in 2018 are growing," a senior IDF officer says. "If we succeed in eliminating Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, this will be a deciding factor."

The senior officer spoke to military correspondents about the possibility that Israel would go to war soon and the nature of the battle in recent years. "The unification of the Technological and Logistics Directorate into the Ground Arm saved the army hundreds of millions and brought about a real improvement in lethal weaponry," says the senior officer. “It’s already not the Yom Kippur War with the many divisions, convoys of tanks and heavy trucks. We are in a different reality. The technology has changed, and so has the battlefield. "

The officer says that massive defense is required for the fighters at the gathering points prior to embarking into battle, and for this purpose the "Magen Gidon" system, which is actually a ground and point-based Iron Dome, will be activated.

"The other side," says the officer, "is the enemy that has changed too, and is more experienced (Hezbollah after four years of fighting in Syria has learned a lot). It is quickly gaining an advantage, and its decentralization will become increasingly hard on forces.”

"We are ready for war," says the officer, pointing out even a target date: "By 2020, we will have all the stocks, all the training and with all the plans." This year we are working on a 17/17 schedule, meaning 17 weeks of training for every 17 weeks of operational activity. "

But the army is not only readying for war. The facilities, the bases, and a large part of the camps are old and almost unsuitable for use.

In the next few years, the Ground Arm is going to change everything. 32 emergency stockpile units will be completely upgraded, 6 training camps will be built, and a unified supply center will be established, with the determining rule being a unified viewpoint. It’s not the Logistics Directorate alone or the Ground Arm alone. Everything is under one officer (Major General Kobi Barak) and under one command that oversees everything and is in fact today the most efficient arm with the largest amount of resources out of the IDF budget.

The army also relates to the issue of girls’ service in tanks, and says that only this summer, when the girls' training is completed, will they decide whether to continue on. The 15 girls who started the course are serving today in the 80th division alongside the mixed-gender Karakal unit, and upon completion of the trial period, the army will examine the necessity and efficiency of the plan.

The investment in the Ground Arm is enormous. Unmanned aerial vehicles for maneuvering forces, sophisticated and advanced missiles, advanced trucks, and even drones that know how to transport supplies to the field and evacuate the wounded as needed.

"The next war will be difficult and no simple matter. It will take between days and weeks, but in the end we will win. Such good and invested manpower guarantees that this will be the case," the senior official concludes.