Israel planning ‘massive’ drone acquisition to counter Iran

JERUSALEM: Israel is to buy and develop drones on a “massive” scale to increase its military edge over its enemies — Iran and its allies — the army said Thursday.

“This plan will improve the lethality of the Israeli armed forces, in terms of precision and reduction of the duration of military campaigns,” army chief Aviv Avikom said in a statement, unveiling the military´s 2020-2024 work plan. Entitled “Momentum” the programme has been approved by Defence Minister Naftali Bennett and presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and will next go to Israel´s security cabinet for approval. An outline of the plan shows that the defence establishment continues to see the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Iran´s al-Quds forces as its most pressing threats. “We have before us organisations which have the capacity and structure of an army” and are preparing for a “massive and unprecedented barrage of rockets and missiles against the civilian population of Israel and its infrastructure,” said Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, an army spokesman. Speaking in a teleconference he added that such attacks could come from “two or three fronts” simultaneously. Israel is currently relying on its Iron Dome missile shield to intercept short-range rockets fired mainly from the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian enclave controlled by Hamas, which has fought three wars with the Jewish state since 2008.