An Israeli soldier carefully eyes the narrow, damp tunnel carved from surrounding rock through a tightly strapped black headset. He is not in one of the attack tunnels built by Lebanon’s Hezbollah under the border with Israel, but one of a new generation of soldiers using virtual and augmented reality to train.

In a small computer-lined room, T., a 20-year-old member of Yahalom, or Diamond — the special operations unit of the army’s combat engineering corps — simulates an advance along the narrow passage.

“We see everything, even falling drops of water,” says the soldier, who cannot be named for security reasons. The headset displays every detail of the virtual tunnel — a reconstruction of one of several subterranean infiltrations uncovered by the army — allowing instructors to guide T. in real-time.

In December, the Israeli army launched an anti-tunnel operation on the Lebanese border dubbed “Northern Shield.”

“Technology is an essential part of the fight,” which justifies the heavy investment, says H., commanding officer of Yahalom’s training center at a military base in central Israel.