Ordnance Corps (Israel)

The Israeli Ordnance Corps (Hebrew: חיל החימוש‎‎, Heil HaHimush) is a combat-support corps in the IDF GOC Army Headquarters. 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 , combat-support materials, and other systems.

In 1941, the Haganah's Ordnance Department (Hebrew: מחלקת החימוש‎‎, Mahleket Himush, abbr. Mahash) was founded. It engaged in the purchasing, concealment, and transport of materiel, in cooperation with Israel Military Industries (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, 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, and in 1943 another course was held in Ruhama.

In January 1948, the Ordnance Department was renamed into the Ordnance Service (Hebrew: שירות החימוש‎‎). During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, 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 corps engaged in many rescue attempts. During the Yom Kippur War, the corps was able to restore and bring into service damaged war materiel (the pace of the restoration proved decisive). During the 1982 Lebanon War, the corps designated two regional ordnance unit within Lebanon, and the Merkava tank, developed under the corps and manufactured by the IMI, was tested in battle for the first time.

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