Why Creativity Matters More Than Technology in Modern Warfare

As Hezbollah’s drone campaign heats up along Israel’s northern border, how did the IDF, one of the world’s most technologically advanced militaries, find itself challenged by relatively inexpensive, commercially derived drones?

Israeli futurist and technology researcher Roey Tzetzna recently explored this issue in a recent interview with Israel’s Defense and Security Forum (IDSF), examining why low-cost drones are increasingly testing even the most sophisticated air defense systems.

(FYI – Years ago I briefly met Roey through the Yuval Ne’eman Workshop for Science, Technology & Security at Tel Aviv University. Bro is a Technion grad who definitely knows his stuff.)

As drones become cheaper, smaller, and easier to build from commercially available components, Israel finds itself confronting an adversary that can iterate far more quickly than traditional defense acquisition cycles allow. A Hezbollah operative can study footage from Ukraine, order components online, and basically put a drone together a their kitchen table. Building and fielding an entirely new defensive system to counter these drones can take years.

(*I'm referring to drones that are relatively "immune" to modern counter-UAS, such as fiber-optic controlled drones.)

This dynamic led Tzetzna to a somewhat surprising conclusion: in the near term, some of the most effective defenses may not be “futuristic” at all, but creative uses of physical barriers and other low-tech measures. While high-tech solutions continue to be developed, physical barriers and other low-tech countermeasures may offer the fastest way to protect soldiers and civilians from a rapidly evolving threat. As he put it, “a steel net is a steel net.” It may not be elegant, but physics is often harder to hack than software.

Regardless of how Israel decides to deal with this drone issue (my hunch is that the solution will be a creative hi-tech / low-tech hybrid), there is a broader lesson to be noted: We often talk about innovation as though it means making things more sophisticated. In reality, the side that adapts fastest often beats the side with the most advanced technology.

We’re entering an era in which commercial technology is increasingly ubiquitous amongst our adversaries, reshaping the battlefield in real time. Which means the challenge may be less about building the perfect system and more about adapting quickly enough to the threat in front of us.

You can’t out-innovate an enemy you can't out-adapt. Victory will belong to the side that thinks more creatively, experiments more aggressively, and turns available technology into military advantage faster than its adversary.

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About Jessica L. Walton: Jessica is a communications strategist, video producer, and writer in the U.S. defense sector. She has written articles on a range of security and mental health topics and conducted interviews with military leadership, CIA officers, law enforcement, psychologists, filmmakers, and more. Jessica also teaches organizations how to enhance their effectiveness with strategic communications, story craft, and writing through the "Maximizing Impact" workshop.

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