Israeli Artillery Corps
Encyclopedia
The Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i Artillery Corps is the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

 corps responsible for operating medium and long-range artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

. The current commander of the Artillery Corps is Brigadier General David Swisa. He replaced Brig. Gen. Mishel Ben Baruch.

The corps is tasked with two principal missions:
  1. Assisting IDF maneuvering forces, at the place, time and with the firepower required.
  2. Paralyzing and destroying enemy targets throughout the IDF zone of operations.

Structure

The Artillery Corps is an integral corps of GOC Army Headquarters
GOC Army Headquarters
The Israeli GOC Army headquarters , known unofficially as Mazi, is a multi-corps command headquarters created in 1998, which amalgamates the ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces...

.
It is a diverse corps, with its lion share consisting of high-trajectory barrel artillery. The corps consist of three main support regiments:
  • The Pillar of Fire Formation, composed of the regular-service battalions Drakon ("Dragon") and Reshef ("Flash") as well as reserve battalions.
  • The Golan Formation, composed of the regular Namer ("Leopard") and Keren ("Ray") battalions, the Ra'am ("Thunder") MLRS battalion, as well as additional reserve battalions.
  • The Kela David Formation, composed of the Meitar ("String") unit, a special operations unit.


The coprs also operates the Field Artillery
Field artillery
Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, long range, short range and extremely long range target engagement....

 School and a training center.
The corps' importance to the IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

 is growing due to the rapid evolvion of modern technology. The corps is amongst the most advanceded components of the IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

, using advanced technology to improve its precision and effectiveness. During the Second Lebanon War the Israeli Artillery Corps was second only to the Israeli Air Force
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...

 in the firepower it expended.

Artillery Corps soldiers wear Turquoise berets and Black army boots.

Equipment

The primary equipment used in most regular and reserve batteries is the M109
M109 howitzer
The M109 is an American-made self-propelled 155 mm howitzer, first introduced in the early 1960s. It was upgraded a number of times to today's M109A6 Paladin...

 "Doher" (Gallop or Fast Rider) Self-Propelled Howitzer. To assist with ammunition carriage and transport, regular batteries use the M548, a modified version of the M113 carrier
M113 armored personnel carrier
The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier that has formed the backbone of the United States Army's mechanized infantry units from the time of its first fielding in Vietnam in April 1962. The M113 was the most widely used armored vehicle of the U.S...

, nicknamed "Alpha". In addition, batteries also use Humvees and M113 carriers
M113 armored personnel carrier
The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier that has formed the backbone of the United States Army's mechanized infantry units from the time of its first fielding in Vietnam in April 1962. The M113 was the most widely used armored vehicle of the U.S...

.

Also in service is the M270 MLRS multiple rocket launcher, the Spike NLOS
Spike (missile)
Spike is a fourth generation man-portable fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile with tandem-charged HEAT warhead, developed and designed by the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and in service with a number of nations....

 missile system mounted on M113 chassis for precision strike, as well as the Elbit Hermes 450
Elbit Hermes 450
-Operators: *In June 2008, Azerbaijan ordered ten Hermes 450, choosing it over other drone models because of its "'invisibility' for the enemy's anti-aircraft defense." On September 12, 2011, a UAV was reportedly shot down by the air defense arm of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army over the...

 and IAI Sky Rider UAVs for artillery spotting. On order are the IMI Lynx
LAR-160
The LAR-160 is a light artillery rocket with a 160mm calibre and a range of 45 km, from a multiple rocket launcher.It is manufactured by Israel Military Industries...

 and JUMPER
Jumper
-Clothing:*Sweater or heavy sweater pulled on over the head, used in the UK and Commonwealth*Jumper , in the USA, a sleeveless, collarless dress, known elsewhere as a pinafore or pinafore dress* Part of the uniform of the United States Navy...

 multiple rocket launchers to bolster its strike capability against enemy positions and rocket-launching cells.

In addition, the corps also possesses radar and navigation system, some of which are classified.

In 1977 the IDF began developing another self-propelled howitzer, the "Sholef" (to draw (a weapon)), based on the M109
M109 howitzer
The M109 is an American-made self-propelled 155 mm howitzer, first introduced in the early 1960s. It was upgraded a number of times to today's M109A6 Paladin...

 with a Merkava
Merkava
The Merkava is a main battle tank used by the Israel Defense Forces. The tank began development in 1974 and was first introduced in 1978. Four main versions of the tank have been deployed. It was first used extensively in the 1982 Lebanon War...

 chasis. The main advantage of the "Sholef" was it's self loading ability, which reduced the number of crewmen from 7 to 4. The project was completed but the IDF decided not to mass produce the "Sholef" because of its high cost, preferring to purchase the M270 MLRS multiple rocket launcher instead. Its main focus switched to improving the precision systems of the "Doher". The "Sholef" was used operationally only once in 1990.

Training

The Israeli Artillery Corps holds it's basic training, commanders course and officers school at the Field Artillery School , better known as Shivta
Shivta
Shivta or Sobota or Subeitah or Subaytah , is an archaeological site in the Negev Desert of Israel, east of Nitzana. It is close to the Israeli Artillery Corps main training facility....

, after the ancient Nabataean town of the same name.

New recruits go through four months of basic training, in which they learn basic infantry weaponry and drills, as well as basic theoretical artillery training. At the end of the basic training stage, the recruits receive their Turquoise berets, symbolizing their acceptance into the corps. They then advance to an additional 4 months of advanced training, throughout which they participate in IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

 operations. After completing their training, soldiers either join operational batteries or advance to the commanders course, for an additional 4 months of training.

Notable Alumni

  • Dan Harel
    Dan Harel
    Aluf Dan Harel is a general in the Israel Defense Forces and is currently the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the IDF. Born in Haifa, Harel began his military career in 1974 at the Israeli Air Force flight school, but in 1976 switched to the Israeli Artillery Corps...

  • Danny Robas
    Danny Robas
    Danny Robas is an Israeli pop-rock singer and songwriter.Daniel Robas was born in 1957 in a Kibutz named Shoval, and grew up in Rehovot. He completed his military service in the artillery corps at the rank of a lieutenant....

  • Yuval Banay
  • Shlomo Artzi
    Shlomo Artzi
    Shlomo Artzi is an Israeli folk rock singer-songwriter, and composer.He was born on November 26, 1949, in Moshav Alonei Abba. In the course of his career, he has sold over 1.5 million albums, making him one of Israel's most successful male singers....

  • Yair Nitzani
    Yair Nitzani
    -Biography:Yair Nitzani was born in Beersheba in 1958. After serving in the Israel Defense Forces as a broadcaster on Galei Zahal in the 1980s, he joined the rock group T-Slam as a keyboardist and vocalist...

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