Eyal Zamir: AI will dominate 'future battlefield', Israel will lead

"Artificial intelligence isn't just another innovation – it is a complete game-changer,” Defense Ministry Director-General Eyal Zamir, said as he opened the first International Defense-Tech Summit on Tuesday.

"AI is a revolution that brings new knowledge to every aspect of life, including defense capabilities," he added. "Whoever adapts first gets a massive advantage. If you are not all in technology, you will fall behind.”

During his address, Zamir noted he had made the decision to establish a research and development branch dedicated to AI and autonomy at the Defense Ministry’s Defense Directorate.

“This may sound visionary, but the future battlefield will allow swarms of mixed combat units – men and unmanned systems fighting together or fully autonomous units operating together, capable of making their own decisions,” Zamir added. 

“In the next ten to fifteen years, maybe sooner, AI robots in land, air, and sea will dominate a fully networked battlefield. But make no mistake: In the near future, we will continue to empower our forces. But we must embed these new abilities to be more efficient and save lives.” 

What is the domino effect in the Middle East?

Zamir also discussed the “massive domino effect” throughout the Middle East. 

“We all watched as Syria collapsed within days,” he said. “The entire Iranian Axis was severely damaged as a direct result of Israel's military operations. When Israeli pilots used American aircraft equipped with Israeli technology to hit Iran's most advanced defense systems – it sent a powerful message to the world.”

Zamir referred to the manufacturing independence program led by the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD), and noted that when the Israel-Hamas war broke out, his mission was to “keep the IDF fully operational with no weapon limits in an ongoing, multi-front campaign."

Head of the DDR&D, Brig. Gen. (ret.) Dr. Daniel Gold addressed how air and missile defense is changing the world. 

“Arrow 3 was operated for the first time against a missile launched from Yemen at a distance of more than 1,500 km,” he said. 

“We are continuously improving our air & missile defense systems; during the war alone, we implemented dozens of system improvements. In the current war, David's Sling and Iron Dome successfully intercepted rockets, missiles, UAVs, and cruise missiles.”

“We are constantly examining how to intercept drones with other drones and take down enemy drones using nets,” Gold added. “During the war, we worked with dozens of startups in the field. We created a methodology for integrating a startup in the field - something the world is still trying to figure out.”

Startups work to develop innovation 

About 200 startups work with DDR&D in developing innovative technologies and capabilities, the spokesperson said, and the IMOD reported an increase in engagements with another 86 Israeli startups and small companies. 

That engagement amounts to about NIS 601 million between October 2023 and September 2024, which, according to DDR&D data, is five times more than the same period last year.  

Also speaking at the summit was Head of the Defense Ministry Space Directorate Avi Berger, who discussed the role of space capabilities in modern warfare, the spokesperson said. 

"The current war is an intensive and aggressive war across seven arenas simultaneously, with some located about 2,000 km from Israel,” he said. “Iran spans 1.6 million square kilometers, which makes the space dimension critical for supporting the IDF's operational activity. From the war's lessons so far, it's clear that we must do everything in our power to effectively utilize the space dimension, as space allows us always to know what's happening in other arenas at all times.”

“A satellite passes from Iran to Israel within minutes and transfers information to our C4I arrays near real time,” Berger added. “The new challenges we face now must be addressed. We need to aim for satellite constellations that will enable continuous information and collection above the entire Middle East with full access for the IDF and the entire defense establishment. Our responsibility at the Space Office is to develop our space capabilities so that the IDF has full, available, and continuous access to all seven arenas."

The summit was led by the IMOD’s DDR&D in collaboration with the Blavatnik Cyber Research Center at Tel Aviv University. 

Among the various senior officials and experts attending the conference were Conference Chairman and Head of the Blavatnik Cyber Research Center at TAU, Maj. Gen. (ret.) Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel; Head of the IMOD’s DDR&D R&D Department, Brig. Gen. Yehuda Almakias; Head of Israel's Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) in the IMOD’s DDR&D, Moshe Patel, IDF’s Technology and Intelligence LOTEM Unit Commander, Brig. Gen. Yael Grossman; former UK Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Nicholas Patrick Carter; and Sequoia Capital Global Partner, Shaun Maguire.