The Israel Air Force (IAF) on Thursday unveiled its relatively new unit for preventing October 7-style ground invasions of Israel, following the country’s complete unpreparedness for that role in 2023.
Conceptually, the idea is that helicopters should be deployable, some within several minutes and some within an hour, to mow down and bomb invaders, such that the ground border defenses are not left alone.
The new unit is part of a larger transformation led by Brig. Gen. Gilad Bar Tal, shifting significant aspects of the IAF’s helicopter units from other tasks to border defense.
This shift also involves increasing the volume of helicopters, drones, and fighter jets, which are constantly ready for border defense and are more broadly assigned to border defense efforts.
In addition, the number of air force platforms that can act within several minutes, and the volume of bombs that the IAF can drop within an hour, is much higher than before.
Moreover, the rules of engagement for helicopters now give much more discretion to open fire based on each individual pilot’s assessment of the threat on the ground than was the case prior to October 7.
Despite these proactive changes, the air force is still not returning to anywhere near the approximately 100 helicopters it had before the 2013-2014 era, when it shut down its Cobra helicopter units.
According to the IDF, before the October 7 invasion, the IAF helicopter unit was due to be reduced to around 20.
Because of October 7 and the new approach, that helicopters are critical to future border defense, the helicopter units will remain around 50, meaning double what they would have been, but still half of what they were a decade ago.
Some changes to Israeli Air Force protocol began shortly after October 7
There are several aspects to the transformation led by Bar Tal. Some of the changes started soon after October 7, 2023. The IDF has acknowledged that the air force had no plan ready to prevent a mass ground invasion, and would only have been able to fully modify the air force’s deployments, resources, and assignments over a few months.
However, at this point, the IDF noted, it has had multiple years working with the land forces in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria to learn how to better defend the borders and how to better work jointly with Israeli ground forces in general.
Next, the air force analyzed maps and the specific topography for each potential invasion area: South, North, West Bank. Israel also has borders with Jordan and Egypt.
Each border has its own specific challenges.
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