The

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i Technology and Maintenance Corps (, ''Heil HaTekhnologya VeHaAhzaka'') is a combat-support corps in the IDF

GOC Army Headquarters The GOC Army Headquarters (, ''Mifkedet Zro'a HaYabasha'', abbreviated Mazi), is a multi-corps command headquarters of the Ground Forces of the Israel Defense Forces. The current size of the Israeli Ground Forces is estimated at 126,000 active ...

. Before the Israeli Technological and Logistics Directorate was dismantled, it fell under its jurisdiction. The corps is responsible for the development and maintenance of war

materiel Materiel or matériel (; ) is supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commerce, commercial supply chain management, supply chain context. Military In a military context, ...

, combat-support materials, and other systems.

History

In 1941, the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

's Ordnance Department (, ''Mahleket Himush'', abbr. ''Mahash'') was founded. It engaged in the purchasing, concealment, and transport of

, in cooperation with

Israel Military Industries IMI Systems, previously Israel Military Industries, also referred to as Ta'as (), was an Israeli weapons manufacturer. The company manufactured weapons, munitions and military technology mainly for the Israeli security forces (especially Israel' ...

, created in 1933. It was headed by Asher "Oshraka" Peled, who also served in the British army. The Ordnance Department sold concealed weapons to the

Yishuv The Yishuv (), HaYishuv Ha'ivri (), or HaYishuv HaYehudi Be'Eretz Yisra'el () was the community of Jews residing in Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The term came into use in the 1880s, when there were about 2 ...

, in accordance with the budget of each village. The British wrote that "There is a weapon to arm every combatant". The first ordnance course took place in Ju'ara, the Haganah's central training camp in 1942. In 1943 another course was held in Ruhama. In January 1948, the Ordnance Department was renamed into the Ordnance Service (). During the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

, the service's first "Basic Workshops" were established to help restore and improve vehicles. In 1951, the Engineering Corps was renamed into the Ordnance Corps. During the Suez War, the corps rescued, collected and restored materiel. After the war, the first Ordnance Battalion was created. In the

War of Attrition The War of Attrition (; ) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from 1967 to 1970. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, no serious diplomatic efforts were made to resolve t ...

, the corps engaged in many rescue attempts. During the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

, the corps was able to restore and bring into service damaged war materiel. The pace of repair proved decisive. During the

1982 Lebanon War The 1982 Lebanon War, also called the Second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization ...

, the corps designated two regional ordnance units within

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, and the

Merkava tank The Merkava (, , "chariot") is a series of main battle tanks used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) which are the backbone of the IDF's Armored Corps. Current iterations of this tank are considered broadly equivalent to the capabilities of t ...

, developed under the corps and manufactured by the IMI, was tested in battle for the first time.Following the

Al-Aqsa Intifada The Second Intifada (; ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, was a major uprising by Palestinians against Israel and its occupation from 2000. Starting as a civilian uprising in Jerusalem and Israel proper, Israeli security responded wit ...

in 2000, new defenses were added to

Armoured fighting vehicle An armoured fighting vehicle (British English) or armored fighting vehicle (American English) (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by vehicle armour, armour, generally combining operational mobility with Offensive (military), offensive a ...

s. Several vehicles underwent upgrades, among these: upper turrets for the Nagmachon, Achzarit, and

Centurion tank The FV4007 Centurion was the primary main battle tank of the British Army during the post-World War II period. Introduced in 1945, it is one of the most successful post-war tank designs, remaining in production into the 1960s, and seeing comba ...

-chassis Puma CEV; mini-turrets for Merkava tanks; further defences to the

IDF Caterpillar D9 The IDF Caterpillar D9 — nicknamed ''Doobi'' (, for teddy bear) — is a Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It is supplied by Caterpillar Inc. and modified by the Israel Defense Forces, Israeli Milita ...

(added

cage armor Slat armor (or slat armour in British English), also known as bar armor, cage armor, and standoff armor, is a type of vehicle armor designed to protect against high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) attacks, as used by anti-tank guided missiles (ATG ...

); and the development of the "Scorpion," a Landing Bridge tank converted into a

combat engineering A combat engineer (also called pioneer or sapper) is a type of soldier who performs military engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering, tunnel and mine warfare tas ...

tank able to carry a portable pillbox. In 2016, the corps' name was changed from Ordnance Corps (, ''Heil HaHimush'') to Technology and Maintenance Corps.

Structure

The corps' training base (#20) is located in

Tzrifin Tzrifin () is an area in Gush Dan (Dan Region) in central Israel, located on the eastern side of Rishon LeZion and including parts of Be'er Ya'akov. The area proper is defined as an 'area without jurisdiction' between the two cities. Nearly the ...

. Other

units Unit may refer to: General measurement * Unit of measurement, a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law **International System of Units (SI), modern form of the metric system **English units, histo ...

do not fall directly under the corps’ command, but are professionally affiliated with it: *The Center for Maintenance and Restoration is the main centre for holding war materiel, including the factory where the

Merkava The Merkava (, , "chariot") is a series of main battle tanks used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) which are the backbone of the Armored Corps (Israel), IDF's Armored Corps. Current iterations of this tank are considered broadly equivalent t ...

tank is manufactured. *The Center for Combat Spare Parts administers the supply of spare parts to the IDF in ten bases. *The Unit for Quality Assurance and Experiments conducts quality control and other experiments in two principal experiment bases and several other smaller, temporary bases. *The Central Regional Ordnance Supply Unit 650 (formerly 652) provides ordnance to the Central Command, including forces stationed in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. *The Northern Regional Ordnance Supply Unit 651 provides ordnance to the Northern Command. *The Southern Regional Ordnance Supply Unit 653 provides ordnance to the Southern Command.

History

Structure

Commanders

References

Bibliography

External links