Military equipment of Israel

History

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the military equipment in the IDF was very diverse and inconsistent. This was due to the severe limitation in obtaining war materiel (the British Mandate and the Arab embargo). During the 1950s, the IDF began the process of standardization, relying primarily on French military equipment.

During the Six Day War, the military cooperation with France ceased (the French Weapons Embargo of 1967) and Israel began to rely on American weaponry and on local research and development. During the 1980s and 1990s, the IDF increased its supplies of American arms, armor and aircraft, aiming for technological superiority over Arab countries, toward "a smaller, smarter army".

The reliance on locally manufactured military equipment has also greatly increased. Today, the overwhelming majority of Israel's military equipment is either manufactured in the United States (and often modified in Israeli workshops), or is developed and manufactured locally, with an increasing emphasis on advanced technology, including aerospace and electronics.

Local military development

Some of the military equipment developed locally have been:

Unmanned aerial vehicles

IAI Heron

IAI Eitan

IAI Harpy

IAI Harop

Elbit Hermes 450

Elbit Skylark

Weaponry

MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile

MIM-23 Hawk surface-to-air missile

/ Arrow anti-ballistic missile

PB500A1 laser-guided hard-target penetration bomb

M-85 cluster bomb

CBU-58 cluster bomb

Mk-20 Rockeye cluster bomb

Mark 84 bomb

MPR-500 penetration bomb

Spice glide bomb

GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb

Shafrir missile

Python air-to-air missile

Popeye air-to-surface missile AKA AGM-142 Have Nap in US use

Popeye Turbo SLCM suspected long range submarine-launched cruise missile, suspected nuclear weapon carrier

Joint Direct Attack Munition guided bomb

AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missile

AGM-45 Shrike air-to-surface anti-radiation missile

AGM-78 Standard ARM air-to-surface anti-radiation missile

AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface anti-tank missile

AGM-62 Walleye glide bomb

AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile

AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missile

AIM-9 Sidewinder heat seeking air-to-air missile

MIM-72 Chaparral surface-to-air missile

Delilah cruise missile

Iron Dome anti-rocket and mortar defense missile

David's Sling surface-to-air missile

Jericho II intermediate range ballistic missile, suspected nuclear

Jericho III intercontinental ballistic missile, suspected nuclear

Naval forces equipment

Below are the IDF's active service watercraft. The year of service, speed, full load displacement, and crew members, are in parentheses.

Missile boats

Sa'ar 4 class missile boat (1970s; 32 kt; 450 tons; 45 crew members)

Sa'ar 4.5 class missile boat (1980s; 31 kt; 488 tons; 53 crew members)

Corvettes

/ Sa'ar 5-class corvette (1990s; 33 kt; 1,227 tons; 64 crew members)

Patrol boats

Dabur (1970s; 19 kt; 39 tons; 9 crew members)

Shaldag (1989; ?; 50 kt; 15 crew members)

Super Dvora Mk II (1996; 46 kt; 54 tons; 10 crew members)

Nachshol (1997; 40 kt; 12 tons; 5 crew members)

Super Dvora Mk III (2004; 47 kt; 54 tons; 10 crew members)

Unmanned naval vehicles

Protector USV

Submarines

Dolphin (1992; 11 kt, 20 kt underwater; 1,640 tons, 1,900 tons underwater; 30 crew members)

Commando boats

Dolphin type underwater craft

Maiale type underwater craft

Snunit boat

Zaharon boat

Moulit boat

Morena rigid-hull inflatable boat

Remote weapon systems

Typhoon Weapon System

Rafael Overhead Weapon Station

Samson Remote Controlled Weapon Station

Space systems

AMOS communications satellite

EROS earth observation satellite

Ofeq reconnaissance satellite

TecSAR reconnaissance satellite

Shavit space launch vehicle