JERUSALEM — The Israeli authorities has established a brand new workplace on the Ministry of Protection tasked with overseeing expertise improvement within the fields of synthetic intelligence and autonomy, in keeping with a authorities announcement.
Named the AI and Autonomy Administration, the outfit will function below the auspices of the Directorate of Protection Analysis & Growth, a key participant within the nation’s military-technology ecosystem.
Officers mentioned the aim is to remodel the fight capabilities of all of the navy branches with a view to preserve the Israel Protection Forces’ operational edge within the Center East.
The workplace is predicted to “convey collectively consultants from IDF technological items, academia, protection industries, and startups to attain unprecedented operational and technological breakthroughs,” the assertion reads.
The organizational concentrate on AI and autonomy comes amid the continued “Iron Swords” warfare towards Hamas and Hezbollah that Israel has been waging for over a yr on a number of fronts in parallel, and which continues to assert the lives of troopers.
In line with the IDF, 891 troopers have died within the warfare as of Jan. 2, 2025. About 5,570 troopers have been injured.
A part of the Israeli marketing campaign relies on roughly 360,000 reserve troopers who’ve been drafted since Hamas fighters attacked on Oct. 7, 2023, making it the most important reserve mobilization within the historical past of the IDF. A 3rd of them has served or remains to be serving greater than 150 days.
That can be one of many causes Israel is establishing the brand new workplace, as officers hope to cut back manpower and price range wanted to prosecute the wars.
“The capabilities we develop will improve our operational superiority whereas lowering casualties, rising operational tempo, and optimizing useful resource utilization,” mentioned the ministry’s director basic, Eyal Zamir.
“Our future battlefield will see built-in groups of troopers and autonomous techniques working in live performance,” he mentioned. “We stay dedicated to investing in floor, air, naval, intelligence, and area capabilities, offering our forces with cutting-edge applied sciences that amplify their effectiveness.”
Tzally Greenberg is the Israel correspondent for Protection Information. He has expertise reporting on financial affairs in addition to protection and cyber firms.
