Content area
Full Text
By B.C. Kessner
TEL AVIV, Israel--Four years into the latest intifada here, low- intensity conflict, or LIC, remains one of the primary drivers of the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) C4I requirements, according to the head of the C4I department.
Though there are differences between Israel's struggle at home and the United States' global war on terrorism, similarities exist, Col. Avi Berger told sister publication Defense Daily during a recent interview here. "We're both fighting terror, both engaged in LIC in what has become an everyday war. Low-intensity conflict is clearly one of the main drivers in our requirements."
March will mark the second anniversary of the establishment of the IDF's new C4I branch. The branch is commanded by a major general and separated into two parts. LOTEM, the technological unit, is charged with new product development and some systems operation. Another arm is comprised of an operational staff, a planning department, resources and external relations departments, and Berger's C4I department.
The C4I department sets the requirements for all new projects, taking the needs identified by the operational staff and balancing them with technological capabilities, resources and timelines, Berger said.
The LIC Israel is fighting on its borders has problems similar to what the United States is facing in Iraq, Berger said. Like the Americans, the IDF is also dealing with urban warfare every day in places such as Gaza, he added. "This is the environment where you have to be most careful."
Constant urban...