The IDF revealed recently that it has escalated the use of robots in warfare against Hezbollah in Bint Jbail.
In this case, the robots are being used to speed up the pace of destroying Hezbollah’s weapons infrastructure, given that it is unknown how long the diplomatic plane will allow the Israeli military to operate in southern Lebanon.
Photos taken by IDF robots, which Yahalom Combat Engineers placed in Hezbollah tunnels and other areas that were hard to reach, have sped up the process for destroying the terror group’s long-term security investments in the area.
This is not the first time the IDF has used robots in war.
On December 1, 2025, Col. (ret.) Yaron Sarig, head of the AI and Autonomy Program Executive Office of Defense Ministry’s DDR&D (MAFAT), said that the 2023-2025 Israel-Hamas War was the first-ever robotics war.
“This is the first robotics war,” he said at the time. “In this conflict, we have mobilized our entire defense ecosystem and deployed tens of thousands of autonomous systems across the battlefield – from drone swarms to agile ground robotics distributed across vast areas.”
Although remotely controlled drones and some other systems have been used for a longer period of time, Sarig revealed at the International Defense Tech Summit sponsored by the Defense Ministry’s DDR&D and the Yuval Ne’eman Science, Technology and Security Workshop at Tel Aviv University, that thousands of kilometers of the invasion in Gaza were carried out by robotic systems.
Robots used during Israel-Hamas War to locate tunnels
The robotic systems have gotten much more diverse and standardized, being deployed in much higher volumes to assist with exploring Hamas tunnels, to save risking soldiers’ lives from that process.
In addition, remote vehicles were used to enter new areas above ground to crash into Hamas positions or to intercept and spring ambushes, so that soldiers could come in afterward knowing where concealed Hamas terrorists were located.
Moreover, robots were used with artificial intelligence to improve the quality of detection and tracking of Hamas terrorists in the field on a much broader and more advanced level.
“The AI and Autonomy PEO, working in coordination with the IDF, has accelerated innovative developments from start-ups, defense contractors, and research institutions, with the goal of integrating them into the operational theater and maintaining our relative advantage on land, in the air, and at sea,” he said.
Moreover, he stated, “We are only at the beginning of this revolution. In the coming years, driven by operational necessity, we will significantly expand our robotic capabilities. Robotics serves as a critical bridge to the world of AI, which, looking forward, will be integrated into every weapon system and into the operational capability of every soldier.”
During the June 2025 Iran War and in its aftermath, Israel pulled off and is pulling off multiple revolutions, regarding drones and regarding using robots to speed up air defense interceptor production, the Defense Ministry revealed on July 1, 2025.
Moreover, ministry officials said at the time that greater integration of robots and automated services into the production process of Arrow 2 and 3 interceptors has tremendous potential to reduce the costs of each interceptor so that Israel can purchase a larger number in the future than it has in the past.
Source:
www.jpost.com
