Jonathan Pollard (Courtesy)
The events of October 7 reinforced a principle that has guided Israel since its founding: The country’s security ultimately depends upon its own capabilities.
By Jonathan Pollard, World Israel News
The attacks of October 7 fundamentally altered Israel’s perception of its security environment. They demonstrated that even a technologically advanced nation cannot rely solely on intelligence, deterrence, or foreign support to guarantee its security.
One of the most significant lessons is the need for greater strategic self-reliance across every aspect of national defense.
For decades, Israel has built one of the world’s most innovative defense industries, producing advanced missile defense systems, precision-guided munitions, electronic warfare capabilities, unmanned aerial systems, and cyber technologies.
These achievements have given the country considerable freedom of action and reduced dependence on foreign suppliers. Nevertheless, recent events have highlighted the importance of expanding domestic industrial capacity even further, particularly in areas where overseas supply chains may be disrupted during prolonged conflicts.
Strategic autonomy is not merely about possessing advanced equipment. It is also about maintaining the ability to design, manufacture, maintain, and replenish critical military systems without relying on uncertain international circumstances.
Domestic research and development strengthen national resilience, supports technological innovation, and ensure that military requirements can be adapted rapidly to emerging threats.
At the same time, Israel’s longstanding doctrine of maintaining a qualitative military edge must continue to evolve. Advances in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, electronic warfare, sensor fusion, directed-energy technologies, and aerospace engineering are transforming modern warfare.
Continued investment in these fields, together with a strong domestic industrial base, will be essential to preserving deterrence in an increasingly complex strategic environment.
Another lesson concerns the importance of resilience through scale. High-intensity conflicts can rapidly consume precision munitions, replacement parts, and other critical equipment.
A defense industrial base capable of sustaining production during wartime is therefore as important as technological sophistication itself.
Manufacturing flexibility, secure supply chains, and advanced production techniques may become decisive factors in future conflicts.
Ultimately, the events of October 7 reinforced a principle that has guided Israel since its founding: The country’s security ultimately depends upon its own capabilities.
Strong alliances remain indispensable, but they are most effective when complemented by a robust domestic defense industry, scientific excellence, and the capacity to adapt rapidly to new challenges.
By strengthening technological innovation, industrial resilience, and strategic independence, Israel can better prepare for future uncertainties while preserving its ability to defend its citizens and maintain regional stability.
Turning to specifics, we need to recognize that Israel’s traditional strategic “long arm,” centered on the Israel Air Force’s manned fighter-bomber fleet, should be enhanced through the development of a domestically manufactured sixth-generation air-superiority fighter, supported by a collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) similar to Anduril’s Fury, together with advanced laser and high-power microwave (HPM) defensive systems and extremely long-range air-to-air missiles.
The greatest challenge will likely be sourcing suitable engines for these aircraft. Nevertheless, Israel possesses the technological expertise to design and manufacture the airframe, the associated sensor suite—including a long-range infrared search-and-track (IRST) system and an advanced gallium arsenide AESA radar—and advanced stealth coatings.
Emerging developments in stealth materials also suggest that more effective and less expensive coatings may soon become available
One area that has received comparatively little attention, however, is the need for strategic force multipliers that can be manufactured at scale and provide a prompt long-range strike capability.
Such systems would be intended to quickly engage enemy radar installations, air-defense networks, mobile missile launchers, command-and-control facilities, and air bases. In particular, air bases should be subjected to sustained “pin-down” targeting in order to limit their operational effectiveness.
The following represent some of the force multipliers that could be used for such missions.
Inexpensive hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) equipped with 500-kilogram warheads, such as the YKG-1000, could be manufactured in large numbers. Their ability to confuse enemy air defenses should ensure that many will strike their targets.
Likewise, advances in manufacturing technology may enable the large-scale production of ballistic missiles equipped with either maneuvering 1,000-kilogram unitary warheads or independently guided 250-kilogram submunitions.
Additional specialized payloads, such as conventional EMP warheads, could significantly expand the range of missions these systems are capable of performing.
These could include the destruction of enemy energy grids, communications systems, advanced munitions manufacturing facilities and data centers.
Hypersonic cruise missiles incorporating advanced electronic support measures (ESM) and electronic countermeasures (ECM) could likewise be produced in significant numbers, enhancing their survivability against sophisticated air-defense networks while increasing their ability to penetrate contested airspace.
Another concept involves an unmanned derivative of the Horten Ho 229 flying-wing design, strengthened through the use of lightweight composite materials and equipped with advanced defensive systems.
Configured as a heavy unmanned strike platform with a substantial payload capacity comparable to the F-15EX, such an aircraft could complement other long-range capabilities as part of a broader strategic strike architecture.
Operationally, these “bomb trucks” would follow the lead missile strikes and could conceivably be used to wipe out entire strategic infrastructure complexes.
Alternatively, they could be loaded with scores of low-budget cruise missiles like the new Russian S8000 “Banderole,” whose 150-kilogram warhead is more than enough to inflict serious damage on a range of targets.
And taking yet another system from the Russian arsenal, our proposed Ho 229 could also be loaded with 1,000 kilogram rocket-assisted glide bombs, whose effect against the Ukrainians has been nothing short of devastating.
Taken together, these concepts envision a new generation of Israel’s strategic “long arm,” intended to strengthen long-range deterrence and complement the IAF’s existing manned and unmanned aviation capabilities.
If supported by advanced manufacturing techniques that enable production at scale, such systems could significantly enhance Israel’s ability to sustain its technological and industrial edge in an increasingly challenging security environment.
The one thing we have to keep in mind, though, is the need to employ these new technologies within the context of either a preventive or preemptive offensive doctrine.
No matter how sophisticated our military may be, we can never again allow an enemy to launch a surprise attack against us.
These weapons, if aggressively employed, should prevent that from ever happening again- assuming, of course, we have a government smart enough to use them that way.
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