The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have created a new “Space Division” of which there are still few details, but which Defense Minister Israel Katz has celebrated with a less than reassuring name: “We already have our white and blue Star Wars,” in reference to the colors of the country’s flag.
The new unit will bring together military projects related to orbital sensors and space warfare technologies and, most strikingly, does not rule out having to deploy military operations beyond Earth.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the creation of the brigade seeks to give Israel the ability to ““monitor, defend and attack from space any objective in immense spaces”in order to consolidate the country’s position as a regional “and world” power.
In fact, it will have a different operation and structure from those of the ground forces and will not be, according to military sources cited by the Israeli press, a simple support structure for the ground forces.
According to those responsible, it is created after verifying that “the space domain” has become an “active combat domain” and will be configured as “in an increasingly extensive military scenario in the coming years, with national relevance.
The new military division shows that the Israeli army is already fully aware that space is a differentiated area of military operations, a horizon that, although it does not now seem very close, does deserve to be taken into account.
Organizational change occurs after a year in which the armed forces approved several space projectsincluding the use of sensors from space for Earth surveillance and the development of capabilities related to space warfare, as reported by Ynet Global.
The new division will operate under the Planning Directorate as part of the army’s multi-year Hoshen program. Their leader, the brigadier general identified as «Shin», was selected during a high-level appointments meeting chaired on Monday by IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir. Two lieutenant colonels, identified as “N.” and “S.” in the initial announcement, They were also appointed to lead departments within the unit and will be promoted to colonel. Appointments are subject to approval by Katz.
“The objective set for the Army and the Defense system is to make Israel one of the leading countries worldwide in the field of space defense,” said Katz. “It will deter enemies near and far,” the Defense Minister continued in the statement.
Katz also maintained that expanding Israel’s military capacity beyond the Earth’s atmosphere will boost the national economy both in terms of development and entrepreneurship or production: “It will turn Israel, also in the civil sphere, into a nation of technology and space.”
An armed forces official told EFE that the space division, which will be established in the coming months, is born from recognize “the fact that space has become an active combat arena“, which they also hope will gain importance in the coming years.