New IDF 'nerve center' gearing up for operational duty

After years of delays, snags and budgetary issues, the IDF's command and control nerve center, otherwise known as "The Pit," is in the final stages of its long-awaited face-lift and will become operational in several months' time.

Located deep underground the IDF's main headquarters at the Kirya base in Tel Aviv, the new "pit" will be where the chief of staff and the army's high command manage future wars, vital operations and the clandestine missions largely kept out of the public eye.

The new pit, which will be fitted with the most sophisticated technological systems the army has at its disposal, is slated to replace the one dug in 1953.

Highlighting the need for a renovation, State Comptroller Yosef Shapira determined in a recent report that the pit was not up to modern safety and fire codes. Additionally, the bunker's ventilation system has malfunctioned occasionally over the past several years.

The pit also facilitates cross-organizational integration between the country's various security agencies. In the main war room, for example, there are permanent seats for representatives from the Shin Bet, Mossad, Military Intelligence, the J6/C4i Computer Service Directorate, the Technological and Logistics Directorate, the Air Force, the Navy and others.

The prime minister, along with the defense and foreign ministers, also have permanent rooms, and if the need should arise, cabinet meetings can also be convened there.