"We are facing a revolutionary multiyear plan, which when completed in a few years, we will see a different IDF. In view of the changing threats environment and following the capabilities that the IDF has developed, we concluded that we should lead fundamental reform and not mortgage our future at the expense of the present," Minister of Defense Moshe Ya'alon said today when presenting the new Teuza multiyear plan to the IDF general staff. The plan was drawn up in response to the NIS 26 billion defense budget cut over the next five years. The government still has to approve the plan.
Ya'alon said that the new work plan takes into account the need to keep the IDF's technological edge against the armies of other countries and terrorist organizations operating in the arena.
One of the biggest cuts in the Teuza plan is in the Armored Corps, where divisions will be disbanded and hundreds of tanks will be taken out of service. "The foreseeable future is liable to lead us to confrontations which will be decided by technological superiority in the air, sea, and land with the development of heavy platforms and the growing use of sophisticated use of unmanned platforms, which give us a major advantage over any enemy," said Ya'alon.
"We are not beholden to technology; we use it and adapt it to the new reality in which army-versus-army battles of the kind which we last fought 40 years ago, during the Yom Kippur War, have become less and less relevant."
Ya'alon said that the changes that the IDF will undergo "will help soldiers operate more effectively, exploiting the human and technological advantages to decide the battle quickly and crushingly. We will not affect the ability to gain in strength, and we will continue to invest in this because it will maintain Israel's qualitative edge."
Ya'alon admitted, however, that in the short term, in 2013-14, budget constraints will affect training and operations by reservists. Training exercises and call-ups of 70 reservist battalions were cancelled in June. He said that while this meant taking a short-term risk, the long term strengthening would be maintained.
Over the past 24 hours, IDF sources have been attempting to make it clear that the IDF's multiyear plan was not an exercise in intimidation of the political echelon, in the hope that the defense budget cut would be reduced. The sources said that this was a serious, thought-out, and calculated plan which would not harm the IDF's ability to deal with enemies on a future battlefield, which is being realized 15 years ahead of its time. The IDF says that the Teuza plan represents a concept of tighter inter-service coordination with precision fire capabilities and the ability to decide campaigns quickly.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 11, 2013
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