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The Ordnance Corps is the largest corps in the Israel Land Forces, and is responsible for the maintenance and development of military equipment, in peace time and in war. Its main tasks include the testing , inspecting and developing of military equipment; devising maintenance systems; and the training of its personnel. Its overall objective is to ensure that all military equipment is kept ready for combat.
Ordnance Corps personnel are responsible for a very wide range of weapons - from the soldiers rifle, to the Merkava Tank, with all its technological sophistication.
The Corps services all IDF units, operating workshops at the back, where necessary, on the battlefield itself.
Among the world armies, the Israel Army Ordnance Corps stands out as a developer and maintainer of a great diversity of military equipment. From the 60's, the Corps began modernizing old tanks, so that it could bring state-of-the art weaponry to the battlefront, at a relatively low cost. IDF was the first army in the world to adopt this idea, and in the wake of its success, many other Western armies have followed suit.
Tank modernization falls primarily into three categories: improving the tank's armour, improving its mobility and manoeuvrability, and improving its ability to hit targets. The Merkava tank was developed in the 70's, and incorporated the lessons learned in Israel's wars. The tank was developed by an Ordnance Corps team, headed by Gen. (retired) Yisrael Tal, the assistant to the Minister of Defence. So far three successive models of the tank have been produced and are presently in service in the IDF. The tank itself is one of the most advanced in the world and constitutes an exceptionally valuable asset in the IDF's arsenal.
Weapon systems developed by the Corps are among the most advanced and sophisticated in the Israeli Army and have succeeded in bringing to the battlefield state-of-the-art weaponry in the fields of armour and defences, electro--optics, missiles and ammunition, as well as computer-controlled automotive systems. In times of war, the Ordnance Corps is able to multiply the fighting capability of the army, by rapidly returning tanks, which have been hit or put out of action, back to their units. This allows the army to maintain a much smaller fleet of armoured combat vehicles than would otherwise be needed for war time.
The Ordnance Corps, which was founded in 1941, began as the ordnance department of the Haganah, which was founded in 1941 and served, as an underground unit, to acquire weapons and ammunition.
In the War of Independence, the Corps was heavily involved in weaponry repair.
After the War of Independence, the Corps was made responsible for the maintenance of all military vehicles, particularly armoured combat vehicles, and began the work of drawing up procedures for the use and maintenance of equipment - its primary function.
During the Six Day War, Ordnance platoons were attached to fighting units at all times, thus enabling them to overcome the majority of breakdowns very rapidly. This itself was to save many lives.
During the Yom Kippur War the Ordnance Corps managed to double the number of vehicles fit for combat, and in this way made a decisive contribution to the balance of power on all the fronts.
A new system of "Dry Storage" proved to be very successful during the Peace for Galilee campaign. This was a system that the Ordnance Corps had been working on for a number of years, to enable hundreds of armoured combat vehicles to go straight from storage into battle in full operational order. This campaign also saw the Merkava tank successfully undergo its baptism by fire, in which it proved its superior mobility and fire power. The excellent durability of the tank and its systems, provide its crew with maximum protection.
The Ordnance Corps is on the technological cutting edge of the Israeli Army and it is thanks to the people of the Ordnance Corps - and the sophisticated equipment that they put at the IDF's disposal - the IDF is able to take full advantage of its systems.
The vital importance of the Corps has always been and continues to be its provision of technological support to the fighting forces and its ability to breathe life into the machinery of warfare.
The Monument to the Fallen of the Ordnance Corps
The monument to the fallen of the Ordnance Corps is in Netanya, the town that has "adopted" the Corps, close to Yad Lebanim, the central IDF memorial building, on a hill overlooking the sea. The memorial comprises a commemorative wall, in which are engraved the 587 names of the fallen of the Corps; a monument in the form of a gun-mounting, made from barrels of artillery cannons, at the centre of which are metal sheets on which are inscribed words of Moshe Tabenkin, the poet: ' Our boy was lofty as the cliffs of the Gilboa Mountains, his youth soared above the clouds, wonderful, brave and daring, soaring higher and higher until his last moments before the foe"; a memorial candle, made out of a tank's turret and of cannon parts, and sculptures in different colours, designed from parts of tanks, cannons and other equipment. The whole area is enclosed by steel sheeting in which there are reliefs of different types of weaponry. The memorial site was built and assembled in its entirety by the men of the Ordnance Corps - a genuine expression of the brotherhood of the fighters and their pledge to preserve the memory of the fallen.
The memorial site was planned by Ruth and Zalman Anav. The architects and the sculptures are by the artists: Dma Merchav, Zalman Anav, Dan Rappaport, Tuvia Margalit, Ehud Shchort and George Ungry. The memorial site was dedicated in July, 1990.
