IDF Deploys Robotic Panda Bulldozers and Drones to Secure Litani River Routes
Unmanned Panda bulldozers operated remotely from the Golan Heights are paving safe routes for IDF troops along the Litani River in Lebanon, significantly reducing soldier casualties.
A group of soldiers sits inside a control trailer in the Golan Heights, watching views of the Litani River on their screens. Before them, as if they were sitting inside the machine, are the operating controls of Panda bulldozers located dozens of kilometers away on the banks of the Litani, leading the advance toward the Ali Taher ridge. On their screens, they see the path ahead and feel the anti-tank missiles fired at the vehicle. When a Panda strikes an explosive device planted by Hezbollah operatives, the impact is felt directly inside the trailer. On the ground, the bulldozer is damaged; inside it, there is no one.
At the head of the force that crossed the Litani were the Panda bulldozers of the robotics company of Battalion 603, part of Brigade 7. They forged a path for the first troops in the area, where Hezbollah had prepared explosives and mines along the route, positions hidden in bushes, and caves carved into the mountain. Above the bulldozers, the company's drones operated to help locate Hezbollah personnel.
"Our Pandas hit explosive devices," says the company commander, Maj. T. "The vehicles are damaged, but these are not human lives. The enemy tries to strike and hits, but we recover the vehicle when necessary by driving it in reverse and repairing it." According to him, a damaged vehicle is usually pulled back and in many cases returns to operational readiness within a day.
We drive in Rangers along the Litani, on a route that, according to T., was the width of an ATV at the beginning of the maneuver. Today, concrete and dirt trucks, bulldozers, and other heavy machinery move here. Along the way, a concrete bridge is being built over the river, and forces are preparing the routes for the winter. By the side of the road, skeletons of excavators and military vehicles hit by drones and burned during and after the maneuver are visible. Dozens of contractors are working here, and heavy traffic of work vehicles is felt on the wide road. This primarily involves development work ahead of the winter to avoid sinking in Lebanese mud.
The View from the Field
It is difficult to see from today's wide road the place where the forces initially entered. "Before that, when driving along the route, you couldn't see the sky. Everything merged with the trees," T. says. "We entered a very dense route and struggled greatly to pass through it at first. We identified many positions; they were prepared for our arrival. This is not a idyllic place by the stream. There were combat positions here."
According to him, dozens of Hezbollah positions were found along the route. Some were simple positions built from sandbags and stones, including a machine gun position. Others included small underground spaces for mattresses, food, and ammunition. Communication wires connected the positions to allow their occupants to talk to each other and carry out local ambushes. "They understood that armored vehicles wouldn't pass and that we would come on foot," T. says. "They analyzed where we would pass and waited for us in the positions. There were dozens of Hezbollah ATVs here. But in the end, we barely encountered hand-to-hand combat."
Indeed, three weeks before the force crossed, Commando Division troops attempted to cross the river on foot. They encountered fire, sustained casualties, and withdrew, leaving engineering equipment behind. Division 36 forces later arrived from the west, a different direction than the one Hezbollah fighters had anticipated, expecting a foot force from the east. This time, unmanned bulldozers traveled at the front. For two days, they forged a path for the rest of the forces, as Hezbollah explosive drones also tried to stop them. The opening of the route and its preparation for further movement continued afterward in the difficult and dense terrain.
Reducing Risk
The robotics company was established less than a year ago. It includes mobility and reconnaissance platoons, a robotics platoon that operates the Panda bulldozers among other tools, and a drone platoon for observation and attack. Now, another platoon is being established—the brigade commander's command post platoon. During its operation in Gaza, bulldozer operators were required to be closer to the vehicles, within line of sight at a distance of hundreds of meters. The transition to satellite communication allowed them to operate the vehicles from the control trailer in the Golan Heights and reduce the risk to operators to zero.
"Before that, we worked within visual range of a few rows of houses, where even when working with robotics, risk was inevitable," Maj. T. says. "They sit in the Golan Heights in a trailer. They have positions, and each soldier simultaneously operates a robotic tool as if they were sitting inside the machine. It has changed the battlefield for us."
Distance does not solve every problem. A bulldozer can sink, get stuck, or be hit in a hard-to-reach place. "The only question I ask myself is—if it gets stuck, what do I do," T. says. "I don't want them to get stuck in a place I can't reach." According to him, in many cases the vehicle manages to extricate itself by driving in reverse.
Even now, when the route is wider, the signs of combat remain alongside it. "Unfortunately, I have two burned excavators," T. says. "Fortunately, they were unmanned when hit." He describes the FPV drones heard over the river during work: "It's really idyllic, hearing the stream and the birds, and suddenly there is a flip of the bowl and you hear the drone." According to him, drone activity in the area stopped about a month and a half to two months ago.
Without Human Touch
The company's work does not end with breaking the path. If there is a suspicion that a building troops are about to enter is booby-trapped, its personnel can scan and blow it up remotely using a drone. Robotic tools are also used to transfer explosives to engineering forces, instead of soldiers carrying them on their backs or driving them in vehicles.
"We used to walk in the streets of Gaza with dozens of kilograms of explosive material on our backs," T. says. Every day, the company's drones destroy about ten sites using explosive material and without human touch. Every time another force was required to conquer a place, the company provided a cover by sending drones first, scanning the location, and preparing a 3D model of the place. When necessary, it forged a path and blew up the site if booby-trapping was suspected. However, under the cover of distance, the process became even more efficient and safe. "At first, we drove behind the vehicles. Today, we are at distances we could only dream of. Today, robotics is the reconnaissance platoon of the past—only without fatalities. And it takes hits at a steady pace."
On the banks of the Litani River, this difference is clearly visible from inside the Ranger: trucks and bulldozers work diligently on a route that was once closed under thick brush, and by the side of the road lie tools damaged during the fighting. Maj. T. does not take the damage to the Panda bulldozers lightly. "We don't want the vehicles to just get hit. They cost a lot of money," he emphasizes. But when he remembers the explosive device that detonated under a vehicle operating in the Saluki area, he returns to the decisive moment for him: "You understand that the vehicle took a hit, and you understand that someone could have been sitting inside the vehicle and taken that hit. And a smile arises that it hit a robotic vehicle."
