Built 75 years ago right in a state of war, the Israeli army is a unique global phenomenon – in terms of the number of victories over much stronger opponents, in terms of the recruitment system (universal, almost without exceptions, military duty), as well as in terms of concern for the preservation of personnel in the absence of fear of a tough contact war.
The existence of its country depends on the preservation of this uniqueness of the army. Recent events ( "Israel slept through the Hamas attacks", "HBO" from 13.10.23) confirm that if the foundations are shaken, then everything can collapse…
There are a number of other interesting features. For example, the high dependence of the Israeli Armed Forces on the import of military equipment (almost always the latest and in large quantities) from the United States. Despite the fact that Israel is one of the world's largest exporters of military products, which accordingly has its own powerful military–industrial complex.
Another feature (however, it has become a thing of the past lately) is the presence in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of a very large number of captured equipment.
And finally, Israel has seen and sees the norms of international law in the course of many of its foreign military actions "deep in the coffin".
ON A FRENCH FOUNDATION
By the end of the War of Independence ("The Fate of Palestine", "HVO" from 01.12.17), the IDF had turned from a combination of guerrilla formations with artisanal weapons into a very strong regular army by regional standards. After the victory, the country found itself in a completely hostile environment, so military construction proceeded at a rapid pace.
In the 1950s, Israel received military equipment from the United States, Great Britain and France, and Paris was the most active of all, not Washington. In particular, M4 Sherman tanks (American-made) and AMX-13, self-propelled artillery units (self-propelled guns) were received from France AMX Mk61, fighters "Hurricane" and "Mister".
It was with French weapons that the IDF carried out the 1956 war ( "The Suez Canal as an apple of discord", "HBO" from, 06.11.20). As a result of this war, up to 40 more Shermans went to the Israelis as trophies.
Over the next 10 years, Israel received from France one and a half hundred artillery pieces (some of which were converted into self-propelled guns), fighter-bombers "Votur", "Mister" and "Super Mister". And, finally, about 80 of the newest Mirage-3 fighters at that time ( "Famous Mirages and colonial turns", "HBO" from 13.10.23).
In addition, in France, according to German projects, the construction of rocket boats of the Saar family for Israel has begun. And it was France that created the nuclear industry for Israel during this period – and, in fact, transferred the technology for the production of nuclear weapons. And "at the same time" provided the most active assistance in the creation of the first Israeli ballistic missile "Jericho-1" ( "The heirs of David and their slings", "HBO" dated 21.07.23).
Finland supplied Israel with one and a half hundred mortars, Germany – 40 M48 tanks. The United Kingdom began supplying Centurion tanks, which for a long time became the basis of the IDF armored forces. 210 M48 tanks, 100 M113 armored personnel carriers and M7 self-propelled guns, six batteries of anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM) "Hawk" were received from the USA.
THE SIX-DAY WAR AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
With such an arsenal, Israel approached the Six-Day War of June 1967, in which it won the most brilliant of its victories. As a result of this war, he has already really enriched himself with trophies. Far from all the captured equipment, according to its technical condition, could be put into service, but there was plenty to choose from. Thus, the IDF was armed with 81 T-54 tanks, 49 T-55, six PT-76 floating tanks, 54 BTR-40, up to 50 BTR-50 and amphibious armored personnel carriers OT-62, at least 100 BTR-152 captured from Egypt, as well as 89 M48, up to 30 "Centurions", 15 M113 captured from Jordan. Jordanian, that is, American equipment did not need to be adapted. It was more difficult with the Soviet one, but it was a pity to throw out fully combat-ready machines, so the Jews quickly put them into their service.
Israel received no less Soviet artillery, adopting 16 122-mm A-19 and 108 M-30 guns, up to 27 130-mm M-46, five 152-mm ML-20, 12 240-mm multiple rocket launchers (MLRS) BM-24, 130 37-mm anti-aircraft guns 61-K.
The losses of Israel itself in ground equipment are still not exactly known. 132 Israeli tanks (50 M48, 53 Centurions, 16 Shermans, 13 AMX-13) were shot down on the Egyptian front, but only 63 of them were irretrievably lost. Up to 112 Israeli tanks were shot down on the Jordanian front, up to 160 on the Syrian front, but there is still no data on how many of them were completely destroyed and how they were distributed by type (we can only assume that 11 M48s were irretrievably lost). The IDF may have lost up to 100 armored personnel carriers and armored vehicles.
The losses of the Israeli Air Force amounted to 46 aircraft, all of them French–made: seven "Mirages-3", 11 "Hurricanes" (including 1 shot down by its own SAM), four "Votura", four "Mister", eight "Super Mister", as well as seven combat training SM-170 and one light transport "Nord" (destroyed by Jordanian fighters on the ground).
The Israeli Navy had no losses, but in October 1967 they lost the destroyer "Eilat" (sunk by Egyptian missile boats in the famous battle of Port Said).
The Merkava Mk1 tank was created by Israeli engineers specifically for the requirements of the IDF. Major General Israel Tal was at the head of the development. Photos from the website www.idf.il
FROM PARIS TO WASHINGTON
As a result of the Six-Day War, there was a complete break between Israel and France. Paris stopped all military exports to the Jewish state, and detained 7 missile boats already paid for at its shipyards. In January 1969, 2 of them were hijacked to Israel by their crews, in December of the same year, the Jews organized a performance with the resale of the remaining 5 boats to a non-existent Norwegian company and also hijacked them to Haifa.
Israel had already managed to create nuclear weapons and the first ballistic missiles by that time. In addition, he successfully "distorted" the "Mirage" and began to produce it at home with some changes under the name "Kfir".
The UK continued to supply Israel with "Centurions" (at least 400 units). And the United States has become an almost complete monopolist in terms of exports to Israel. From them, Israel received at least 150 M60 tanks and up to 200 M48, at least 400 M113 armored personnel carriers, over 400 self-propelled guns and towed guns, more than 200 A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft, up to 150 F-4 Phantom fighter-bombers. Some of these aircraft were lost during the "War of Attrition" ( "Battle of Attrition", "HVO" from 01.3.19), mainly from Soviet S–125 air defense systems. In addition, the production of 155-mm towed M-68 guns of its own design was launched in Israel itself.
THE DOOMSDAY WAR
The October war of 1973 ( "Israel's Day of Judgment", "HBO" from 19.10.18) became the heaviest of all Israel's wars: during the first few days it even seemed that it was on the verge of defeat as a result of the massive offensive of the armies of Egypt and Syria. Nevertheless, Israel also won this war in the end. Moreover, he acquired so many trophies that whole divisions were formed from them. The total number of Soviet tanks adopted by the Israeli army following the 1967 and 1973 wars amounted to 444 units (more than 350 T-54/55, about 80 T-62), of which 7 T-54/55 were lost in 1973. In Israel, most of these machines have been upgraded and received the name "Tyrant" ("Tyrant-4" – T-54, "Tyrant-5" – T-55, "Tyrant-6" – T-62).
In addition, Israel received up to 19 combat-ready PT-76, 10 BTR-152, 42 M-46 guns, 167 different 122-mm guns and 101 61-K anti-aircraft guns (but not all of this artillery was adopted).
However, unlike the Six-Day War, in the October War, the trophies did not fully compensate for the losses of the IDF. Thus, Israel's irretrievable losses in tanks amounted to 407 vehicles (seven ex-Soviet, 400 Western): 243 tanks remained on enemy territory (229 in Egypt, 14 in Syria), another 164 were not subject to restoration. Interestingly, at least one M48 captured from the IDF by Egypt was from among the trophies captured in 1967 by Israel from Jordan. About 400 armored personnel carriers and armored vehicles, 25 artillery systems were also lost (17 on the Egyptian front, eight on the Syrian front), including three M109 and four M107 self-propelled guns. All three M109s were destroyed on the first day of the war in the Golan Heights by Syrian tanks.
The losses of the Israeli Air Force amounted to 53 A-4, 32 F-4E, 12 Mirage-3, 6 Super Misters, 2 German light transport aircraft (1 Do-27, 1 Do-28), 5 helicopters (2 S-65C, 3 Bell-205). The Navy apparently lost only one patrol boat. Arab sources give several times the IDF's losses in equipment of all classes, but they do not provide evidence.
ISRAEL BECOMES AN EXPORTER
Immediately after the war, Israel received another 400 "Centurions" from the UK, which ended the purchase of military equipment from this country. During the war, the United States organized an air bridge to Israel, sending it military equipment directly from its military units stationed in Europe. The total number of M60 delivered from the USA for all time has reached, according to various sources, from 1,150 to 1,400 units, the total number of M48 – from 600 to 800. In Israel itself, these tanks were constantly upgraded according to the variants "Magah-3/5" (M48) and "Magah-6/7" (M60).
Deliveries of the M113 armored personnel carrier in various versions continued in the XXI century, in total Israel received at least 2 thousand. "the APC itself", at least 15 combat reconnaissance vehicles (BRM) M981, at least 435 command and staff vehicles (KSM) M577, at least 450 M901 vehicles with anti-tank missile systems (ATGM) "Tow". There is, however, information that only the "proper APC" M113 was received at least 6 thousand units. The number of M109 self-propelled guns available to the IDF (the last of them arrived in the early 1980s) is, according to various sources, from 429 to 600. Israel converted most of its own M-68 guns into the L-33 self-propelled gun, while production of the improved 155-mm towed M-71 gun began in 1975.
In addition, the production of the Merkava Mk1 tank, created specifically for the requirements of the IDF, has started in Israel. This allowed Israel to refuse to import tanks.
All nine batteries of the Hawk air defense system were upgraded according to the "Improved Hawk" variant, six more batteries of this air defense system were delivered, as well as 150 M163 ZSU and M167 anti-aircraft guns. Finally, the Israeli Air Force received from the United States more than a hundred "Skyhawks", up to fifty "Phantoms", and then at least 40 of the newest F-15A fighters at that time/B and at least 75 F-16A/B fighter-bombers.
Israel itself began selling armored vehicles, artillery, and then combat aircraft to the countries of Southeast Asia (Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia) and Latin America (Honduras, El Salvador, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador). In addition, he transferred some of the captured Soviet equipment to pro-Israeli groups in Lebanon.
LORD OF THE AIR
The war in Lebanon in 1982 ("Lebanon in the Arab-Israeli wars: how the country was split", "HBO" from 05/29/20) Israel won again – triumphantly in the air, not without problems on land. Irretrievable losses in tanks amounted, apparently, to 52 units (seven Merkavs, 37 different variants of Magakh, eight Centurions), and four Magakh-3 (M48) became trophies of the Syrians, one of them was transferred to the USSR. The losses in the armored personnel carrier are unknown, but it is believed that in general, for all the wars, the IDF irretrievably lost up to 200 M113.
The Israeli Air Force lost three combat aircraft (one Skyhawk, Phantom and Kfir each), two AN-1 Cobra attack helicopters, three multi-purpose helicopters (two Bell-212, one Hughes-500MD). Alternative Soviet data on the destruction of dozens of Israeli aircraft by the Syrian air defense, alas, are "hunting stories".
As a result of all its victories by the early 1990s, Israel was already looking to the future quite confidently - but this is the next story.
Alexander Khramchikhin
Alexander Anatolyevich Khramchikhin is an independent military expert.