Israel Forces To Get Heavy-Duty Mobile Network
TEL AVIV - Israel is forging ahead with plans to provide maneuvering land forces the same secure command, control and intelligence data formerly available only to higher-echelon commanders deployed firmly in the rear.
Within a year, troops on the move should be linked into Israel's secure C4ISR network via a new program called Afik Rahav, a locally customized, military version of the WiMAX wireless technology developed for the commercial world.
In interviews here, Israel Defense Force (IDF) planners said elements of Afik Rahav already have been field-tested, and that initial operational capability is planned for 2009.
"Our main mission is to improve maneuvering capabilities, and this requires mobile C4," said a brigadier general in the IDF's C4I Directorate who reports directly to Maj. Gen. Ami Shafran, director of the General Staff's C4 directorate. "In 2009, we'll start seeing this new operational capability throughout the IDF. In fact, we'll be the first military in the world to use WiMax."
Developed by Israel's Tadiran Communications, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, Afik Rahav, or Bro@dnet, will link battalion- and brigade-level operational units into IDF's Gold Avnet, the encrypted fiber-optic network now serving the General Staff and senior command echelons. Ultimately, it will connect not only maneuvering ground forces, but air and naval echelons as well, he said.
The system is designed to cover huge city-size areas, providing long-range, high-capacity broadband voice, data and multimedia communications, according to company data.
Amos Weizman, deputy general manager for Land and C4I at Elbit Systems, said Afik Rahav - which the firm is marketing internationally under the name Bro@dnet - "is the first and only system in the world to use WiMax technology for military use."
According to the Elbit executive, the militarized system offers extended range compared to basic WiMax. Each sector antenna manages bandwidth allocation according to needs, enabling long-distance delivery of up to 37 megabytes in each direction at 360 degrees. Moreover, in order to prevent interference from commercial and civilian WiMax systems, Bro@dnet uses the so-called NATO Band 4 operational frequency rather than standard WiMax frequencies.
"It's a complete turnkey, network-based communications system delivering reliable, very high-speed, high-capacity data and multimedia communications directly to the field," said Weizman. In addition to IP-based voice and data, the system features advanced tools for delivering maps, UAV-generated videos and other graphic-heavy visual aids, he said.
According to the brigadier general, deployment of the wireless network marks a milestone in IDF efforts to implement a key lesson from the 2006 Lebanon War.
"We didn't make the grade in terms of maneuvering warfare. Our fighting units weren't equipped with the capabilities provided by the net; and even those that had some limited capabilities didn't really know how to use them properly," he said.
During the war with Hizbollah, the IDF's C4 directorate improvised limited command-and-control capabilities for troops on the move. A few weeks into the war, for example, IDF technical experts installed transmission extensions into tethered balloons to allow brigade commanders to teleconference over the Saluki River in southern Lebanon.
The IDF also outfitted several armored vehicles with transmission lines to support forward forces, but the war ended before troops could benefit from the makeshift mobile platforms.
"Mobile C4 was in arm's reach, but not quite within our grasp during the war," Shafran said in an interview last year.
As a result, some brigade and division commanders elected to remain behind in stationary or semi-mobile command posts rather than move with their forces.
The brigadier general estimated Afik Rahav development costs at 100 million Israeli shekels ($31 million) since 2005. In parallel, the IDF General Staff has authorized "several hundreds of millions of shekels" for each year of the current five-year plan to develop and deploy capabilities aimed at increasing interoperability among intelligence, air, land, and sea arms.
"All the operational organizations have a work plan for interoperability, and every 18 months, we set new milestones," he said.
No Bells and Whistles
When Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi assumed high command of the IDF in early 2007, he ordered a scrub of land force capabilities, organizational schemes and investment plans. His goals: restoring professionalism throughout the command echelons, restoring readiness, and rehabilitating Israel's once-vaunted maneuvering land-warfare capabilities.
Last month, the IDF announced a new, territorially independent land force division whose sole purpose is to provide ready forces and all supporting equipment to whichever theater of operations needs them most. A skeletal headquarters command was inaugurated in May, and the new division is slated to become operational in 2010.
As for C4, the new IDF chief restricted the amount of influence technology developers and industry executives had on military modernization plans. Only technologies and systems that contribute to decisive battlefield victory gained funding approval, while so-called nice-to-haves - such as a nearly $100 million Enterprise Resource Planning computerization project - were cut from the budget.
"We've all undergone radical reorientation. No more bells and whistles, and no more projects just for the sake of developing cutting-edge technologies," said the brigadier general. "We don't want others to bring us technology we don't need. And we're not going to be tempted by things that are not necessarily relevant to bottom-line battlefield decisiveness."
Accent on Security
Meanwhile, the IDF's C4 Directorate is accelerating investment in secure tactical communication systems such as the Mountain Rose cellular telephone by Motorola Israel, Tadiran Communication's Far Thunder data radio network and a new encrypted beeper system known as Red Kalanit.
According to the brigadier general, the IDF will no longer permit nonencrypted communication devices in wartime.
"We need to supply these systems down to the level of company commanders. We don't want any officer communicating through open systems."
The new tactical communications devices permit encrypted voice conversations, text messaging and data transmissions, and are backed up by an IDF-developed control system that monitors user access and disables the system, if needed.
"I can create groups that are permitted to talk to one another. Conversely, I can prevent others from gaining access. And if those devices fall into the hands of the enemy, I can make it turn into a stone," he said.
In a separate mid-May interview, an IDF colonel specializing in information security said the control system is one area of the military's ever-expanding information security program that is off-limits even to Israeli industry.
"Some things we need to keep strictly in-house," said the colonel, who has devoted his career to information security issues. The officer noted that his information security bureau operates so-called red teams of hackers and other technological wizards that constantly check and challenge the integrity of systems developed and deployed by the IDF's C4 Directorate.
"Although Hizbollah managed to tap into open communications lines during the last war, it couldn't penetrate our secure systems … And we aim to keep it that way," the colonel said.
In addition to new technological measures and countermeasures, the IDF has embarked on a military-wide education program to indoctrinate conscripted soldiers and officers alike in the importance of information security. Officers are now forbidden from bringing personal cellular phones into sensitive meetings, while lower-ranking soldiers are banned from bringing camera-equipped cell phones onto sensitive military bases and installations.
"The enemy is constantly improving his ability to eavesdrop, and we must always remain a few steps ahead," the colonel said. "We're doing this by transitioning to secure systems and by education and enforcement of field security rules and regulations." ■
E-mail: bopallrome@defensenews.com.
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