The IDEA detector concept for a future $e^{+} e^{-}$ collider adopts an ultra-low mass drift chamber as the central tracking system. It is a He based, 4 m long and 4 m diameter, fully stereo drift chamber with a total material budget of $ \sim 0.016 X_{0} $ in the barrel part and $ \sim 0.05 X_{0} $ in the end-caps. It will be instrumented with a readout electronics implementing the Cluster Counting/Timing techniques, allowing for a larger than 3 $\sigma$ $\pi/\kappa$ separation over most of the momentum range of interest.