Israeli Defense Forces Explore 'Operational Internet'

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is one of the premier armed forces in the world, and now, according to report in the Jerusalem Post, it will soon be a key force in Fog computing for the IoT, too.

The IDF has a dedicated telecommunications and operational information technology unit, called Lotem, which is enhancing a proprietary operational Internet to tie the existing network into the cloud for use in military applications by the Lotem users, engineers and programmers. The original network came online in 2014, and now will work to connect all of the IDF branches to communicate with each other and access mission-critical assets from the field, or anywhere they’re needed.

If an operation required coordinated efforts by several IDF branches, the commanders could communicate in real time, accessing needed information and even issuing commands. In the future, the network will also incorporate sensors for visual intelligence, making it an IoT network, they’re not there yet. The immediate next phase will be to make it live for mobile platforms like tanks in the field and in-flight fighter jets.

This operational Internet will sit as part of the IDF’s "combat computing cloud," which will be a data center, and is under development now.

Fog has a future in the military, if the IDF says it does, and that future is tying the IoT together.