IDF base where experts are fighting war of the future against growing drone threat

The training unit didn’t exist before October 7. Now Israel is racing to prepare soldiers for what commanders believe is the biggest revolution in warfare in decades.

While Israel remains one of the world’s most advanced military powers, a new threat is rewriting the rules of war. Drones costing just a few hundred pounds can give frontline troops or terror groups the ability to spy on targets or carry out devastating precision strikes that once required multi-million-pound military technology.

Last month Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir stated that the military Israel’s military will soon finalise a new General Staff organisational structure dedicated to robotics, drones and artificial intelligence.

He said: “I have set a goal for the IDF to be a global leader in unmanned systems in both defence and offence.”

The horrors of October 7 and the war that followed have forced the IDF to rethink the future battlefield.

In the Hamas attack in 2023, small drones sent from Gaza carrying explosives or modified munitions were deployed to strike Israeli military observation posts and communication towers.

Since then, Hezbollah, Iran-backed militias and the Houthis have all demonstrated increasingly sophisticated drone capabilities.

Member of the dedicated IDF unit retrieves a drone (Eyal Warshavsky)Eyal Warshavsky

There is a profound shift in the economics of warfare. An FPV drone costing a few hundred pounds can disable millions of pounds worth of equipment, or kill.

Defending against those drones often requires interceptors or sophisticated electronic systems that cost many times more than the aircraft they are trying to stop.

Unlike traditional weapons, drones are constantly evolving. Engineers modify software, cameras, batteries and navigation systems at remarkable speed, while operators rapidly develop new tactics to evade countermeasures.

The result is an endless cycle in which every technological breakthrough is quickly met by a new response.

Many drones fly low to the ground, making them difficult for conventional radar systems to identify. Their small size produces only a tiny radar signature. Low speeds can make them hard to distinguish from birds or other objects.

Electronic jamming can disable some drones, but newer systems increasingly rely on autonomous navigation, fibre-optic guidance or anti-jamming technology designed to overcome electronic warfare.

Since October 7, 30,000 projectiles have been launched into Israel from enemy territory, according to the IDF. Thousands were drones.

The IDF unit didn’t exist before October 7. It was created as an emergency response after unprecedented drone attacks exposed how rapidly the battlefield had changed.

Inside the base, instructors are training thousands of soldiers to fight in this new warfare.

Accompanying the JC are Colonel “N” and Colonel “R”, both of whom were struck by explosive flying objects during the war.

“It becomes a good experience to teach other people,” colonel N told the JC matter-of-factly. “But this is our reality.”

“The technology changes rapidly,” one senior commander said “and it’s cheap to send a drone. We’re adapting on a monthly basis.”

Perhaps the most striking admission from inside the base was that there is no perfect defence.

Part of the challenge is that there is no single type of drone. It has become an endless race between attackers developing new technology and defenders trying to catch up.

IDF operator is hands on with drone control (Eyal Warshavsky)Eyal Warshavsky

The officers showed the JC described multiple layers of protection – from electronic detection systems to interception technologies, camouflage and battlefield tactics.

But none of them are foolproof.

“There isn’t one product that will eliminate this threat,” the colonel explained. “Every new system is only another layer.”

But they say that Israel is well on its way to leading into the world.

The work here is particularly important for communities such as Metula, Israel’s northernmost town.

Lying directly on the border with Lebanon, it is the Israeli community closest to Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon.

With its lush green hills, crisp mountain air and fruit groves stretching across the landscape, Metula looks picture postcard perfect.

But this is a frontline town, which during the conflict with Hezbollah, endured thousands of rocket, missile and drone attacks, suffering extensive damage to homes and public buildings.

While rockets once dominated the threat from Lebanon, security experts warn drones have become one of the greatest challenges facing Israel’s northern communities.

“Communities along the northern border, including places like Metula, remain within range of potential drone attacks and continue to be exposed to the threat,” said Onn Fenig of R2 Wireless, who works with the US military and Nato on drone detection. “Technically, very little prevents a drone from carrying a chemical or biological warhead. The main limitations are access to such materials and the intent to use them.

“From a purely technical standpoint, drones are capable of carrying a variety of payloads.”

Experts agree drones represent a major and growing threat. Traditional air defence systems were designed primarily to counter aircraft and missiles rather than large numbers of drones.

Fenig says: “The danger is not only the physical damage they can cause but also their psychological and strategic impact.

“A single drone can disrupt an airport, power station, port or other critical infrastructure. When deployed at scale, drones can create widespread disruption.

“Their relatively low cost also creates a challenge because it is economically inefficient to intercept a cheap drone with an expensive missile.”

Public estimates suggest thousands of drones have been employed by Iran and its proxies across the region. The threat continues to evolve, ranging from larger long-range attack drones to small first-person-view drones used tactically on the battlefield.

Residents in Metula say it feels like rarely a day without a siren or a fear of a drone and in today’s case an infiltration.

Ariella Levy, who has lived in Metula for the past ten years and works as the municipality secretary, says life on the border is defined by uncertainty.

She said: “It’s impossible to explain the feeling. You never know what’s going to happen next. Everything can be quiet and normal, and then half an hour later everything is turned upside down. You live with that uncertainty all the time.

“There were days when the sirens would go off all day long – every half hour.

“Other days there would be four, five, six or seven alerts. It changes all the time.

“Most people have a shelter, but I don’t. To reach the nearest protected space would take me far longer than the time we’re given. Usually, by the time you hear the siren, within seconds you hear the explosion. I don’t have time to run. I stay where I am and wait. When you hear a very loud blast, you know it’s close.”

Levy said drones are very much feared. “One of the scariest moments for me was shortly after October 7. Most residents had already left, but some of us stayed behind because of our jobs. There was a drone carrying explosives overhead and security forces started shooting at it. We were sheltering inside a safe room and it was terrifying.”

Israeli security officials also point to evidence, including operational plans previously discovered by security forces, indicating intentions to carry out attacks across the border into the Galilee.

Back at the drone base, experts tell the JC that of the biggest changes is who controls air power.

A few years ago, if commanders wanted to know what was over the next hill, they had to request help from the air force.

Now they can launch drones within minutes to scout enemy positions, identify threats and support troops without waiting for higher headquarters.

Officers describe it as every brigade having its own “micro air force.” but the goal isn’t simply to fly drones.

It’s teaching troops how to recognise threats, find cover quickly and survive an attack that can arrive almost silently from above.

Instead, they’re building layer after layer of defence while trying to stay one step ahead of technology that never stops evolving.

Inside the once-secret training base, officers are sure: the drone revolution has already arrived.