Soldiers from the Israeli Army’s Kfir Infantry Brigade trained with sophisticated robots and elite special forces to be told how one can fight enemy terrorists in tunnels beneath the Earth’s surface.
Soldiers within the IDF are constantly training to offer protection to Israel from the air, at sea, on land and, just as importantly, beneath the Earth’s surface. Hence, the Lavi Battalion’s operations company participated in every week-long underground combat keep fit exercise last week. The original exercise befell on the Northern Command’s central training base and was designed to coach the fighters, who normally focus on the Judea and Samaria region, for combat in all arenas.
“We take into account that within the next war, the brigade might want to face a unique sort of enemy,” company commander Major Baruch Ram explained. “Therefore, we have to address combat in shrubland, that is terrain with dense vegetation, in urban terrain and underground. A scenario where we’re forced to address all three terrains in a single battle is probably going.”
Underground warfare delivers its own set of unique challenges to soldiers trying to clear entrenched terrorist positions. Given the technological difficulty in gaining a picture of what’s happening beneath the skin, combined with the severely limited scope of physical movement for soldiers inside tunnels and bunkers, subterranean combat demands professional and unique fighting techniques. Among them, the combination of special forces and use of the incredible EyeBall – a ball-shaped camera that conducts a 360 degree scan of the realm wherein it truly is deployed.
“First you should scan the world with the EyeBall on the way to be certain that the enemy has not placed explosive charges within the tunnel,” Maj. Ram explained. “After entering, it is advisable advance with caution as it is a sealed area, like a corridor with many rooms at the sides. You must work very professionally – if there’s anyone in a single of the rooms he can cause great damage resulting in many casualties.”
The operations company from the Kfir Brigade’s Lavi Battalion took a while out from its operational deployment inside the Mount Hebron area for the week-long keep fit exercise. “We prepare the force for combat while conducting routine security work. The corporate has a forward platoon, a demolitions platoon and an underground combat platoon, and through the educational every platoon treated its own specialization,” Maj. Ram explained.
“It was to take into accounta good training, of a completely professional platoon that has undergone much training in past times. However the moment that you’ve got the platform and facilities of the Northern Command’s training base, it raises the extent. Its important to stay alert, so they can be professional and prepared of their fields of workmanship. The platoons also underwent weapons training, open terrain training, grenade throwing and Krav Maga – everything that an infantry unit needs,” Maj. Ram said.
Kfir began its seven-year journey as an infantry brigade as a consultant force for the Judea and Samaria region. Today it’s the largest infantry brigade within the Israeli military, and its fighters are trained for combat in every terrain and arena, from Israel’s northern extremity to its southern tip.
“Five months ago the brigade conducted an operative keep fit exercise within the Golan Heights, and we’re always ready for each threat,” Maj. Ram explained. “Today it’s clear to us that the brigade might want to face many issues in combat. In Pillar of Defense we were mobilized to Gaza. Once, people would study Kfir and say that it’d take a long time for us to succeed in our current situation. i suspect that relative to seven years, our capacity may be very impressive.”
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