The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have created a new combat force that they are calling the “Multidimensional Unit” and are assigning soldiers from across the military to it. According to the Israelis, this combined unit is the first of its kind in the world.

Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, the IDF’s Chief of Staff, ordered the formation of this unit. It will combine infantry, combat engineers, armor, as well as organic air support.

Soldiers will be drawn from nearly every corner of the IDF’s forces: from the Armored Corps, paratroopers, soldiers from the Golani and Nahal brigades, reconnaissance units, army engineers, Air Force pilots and Special Forces operatives including from Duvdevan and Oketz. Military intelligence and communications units will also be assigned to the Multidimensional Unit, as the IDF already has the new unit in an intensive training cycle. At this time naval forces will not be part of the new unit.

One of its primary missions will be to test new fighting techniques, tactics and strategies.

The IDF released a statement on Wednesday saying that the year-long preparation for the new unit is based around the IDF’s new “operating concept for the next decade – to hit the enemy in a shorter period of time, and to neutralize its capabilities.”

For several years, the IDF under Kochavi has been at work on this concept, which they named “Tenufa or Momentum.” It promises to ensure that the IDF can locate, reveal and destroy enemy forces using ‘multidimensional’ combat techniques.

The new unit is battalion-sized and commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel, identified only as LTC A., who recently commanded the Dundevan Commando Unit. The as of yet unnamed unit will be placed under the command of the Israeli 98th Paratroopers Division, commonly known as the Fire Formation. Fire Formation is one of the elite formations in the IDF.

The exact location of the unit’s base is unknown.

“Its members are meant to know how to operate in all fronts of the war, with the central characteristic being a high level of fitness and the ability to locate, attack and destroy the enemy in all regions and on all levels,” the IDF said in a statement.

The unit will be equipped with some newly developed classified combat technologies, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles that can accomplish a variety of missions. The unit will also act as a testbed for new combat TTPs (tactics, techniques, and procedures) developed by another recently created unit called “Shiloah” that is responsible for modernizing fighting methods and arms.

In the past, Israeli armored formations may have fought alongside infantry but they remained subordinate to their armored units; and the infantrymen were led by their infantry commanders. Now the battalion commander will lead all of the troops, including his own organic air support that will report directly to him.

The purpose of this combination is to give the commanders on the ground the speed and flexibility to adapt to rapidly changing situations and strike the enemy — often in urban scenarios — before it can melt away in the civilian population.

By having the various units working together at the battalion and company level, the IDF will be able to react to situations much faster and with better precision than ever before. The troops will all be connected digitally, from individual platoon commanders on the ground to pilots in the sky, with improved communications.

According to the Times of Israel, who were the first to report on this unit: “Over the past year, the military has tested this type of multifaceted fighting style in several exercises and had begun building its organizational structure, but the arrival of soldiers to the unit marks a significant step toward its full realization.” 

The Multidimensional Unit is expected to be fully operational by late 2020.