Tel Aviv: Following the shortage in different types of ammunition and the ongoing war, Israeli defence companies will multiply the production of some types of ammunition including those that until now were supplied by the US.
Israel was caught unprepared with a growing shortage in different types of ammunition as the war that broke out on October 7 still continues. Israeli sources said that the Israeli defence forces (IDF) were accustomed to short wars and therefore the stockpiles of ammunition were too small.
The US maintains an emergency stockpile of various types of ammunition in Israel. Israel can request permission from Washington and if this is granted, the stockpile is put at the disposal of the IDF. Great arrangement. But someone in the security establishment did not know or forgot that most of this stockpile was transferred by the US to Ukraine to help it in the war against Russia.
According to a report on the website of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), the weapons were worth more than a billion dollars. Israel used the stockpiles (by paying and withdrawing weapons) at least twice, in 2006 and 2014, during the conflicts in Lebanon and Gaza, respectively.
“The inventory consisted mainly of what is known as “dumb ammunition”, i.e. without sophisticated guidance systems such as 155 mm artillery shells and thousands of “iron bombs” that are simply dropped from airplanes so that gravity can do its work. Of course, the report referred to the situation before October 7.
But as mentioned, the Israeli ministry of defence ignored the fact that almost the entire US stockpile was sent by the US to help Ukraine in its war with Russia. The Israeli ministry of defence refused to comment on this.
Now big efforts are being made to correct the situation. The ministry of defence together with the defence industries is working on an emergency plan to rebuild the Israeli capabilities related to the need to have a much larger stock of ammunition, to avoid the shortage created by the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel, according to the sources, will have to immediately at least double the local production capacity of various types of ammunition, mainly bombs and artillery shells. Sources say that Elbit Systems and Rafael are already planning a “massive” upgrade of their production lines. Elbit mainly produces artillery and tank shells while Rafael produces air bombs of various types and interceptors.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
