Israel reevaluates its ammunition requirements as shortage looms

Israel’s Ministry of Defense has been working with the Israeli defence industry to develop an emergency plan to rebuild the country’s stock of ammunition and avoid a shortage created by the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza and fighting with Hezbollah over the Lebanese border.

“The current situation does not make sense,” an Israeli defence source told Shephard. “Someone fell asleep [at the wheel] and Israel has had to take emergency steps to supply the ammunition to forces in war zones.”

Senior Israeli defence officials visited Washington in January 2024 as part of efforts to close the gaps between previous assessments on the required ammunition stocks for the operations of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and reality. The delegation was headed by Eyal Zamir, director-general of the Israeli Ministry of Defence, and met with US defence officials and senior representatives from US defence companies.

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Israel had felt assured for many years that would receive the ammunition it required in a war from US emergency stockpiles located in the country and which included air-dropped bombs and artillery shells.

According to a report by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), the weapons, worth more than US$1 billion, have been paid for by the US, but the IDF has been responsible for storing them and taking on facilities and maintenance costs.

Israel has tapped into the stockpiles (by paying for and withdrawing the weapons) at least twice, in 2006 and 2014 during conflicts in Lebanon and Gaza, respectively.

“The current stockpile is full of ‘dumb’ munitions such as 155mm rounds and thousands of ‘iron bombs’,” the Israeli defence source remarked. “One reason Israel is comfortable with withdrawing the 155mm rounds is that this will free up space for precision-guided munitions which is about all the Israeli Air Force uses.”

The Israeli Ministry of Defence, however, has ignored the fact that much of the US stockpile was sent to help Ukraine in its war with Russia. The ministry refused to comment on this factor.

When the IDF began operations in Gaza following the October 7 attack by Hamas, the shortage of different types of ammunition became a problem, with so-call ‘dumb’ ammunition (i.e., unguided bombs) made in Israel but with amounts ordered by the Israeli Ministry of Defence based on the wrong assumptions.

Israel, according to defence sources, said the domestic production capabilities of different types of ammunition, mainly bombs and artillery shells, would have to be at least doubled.

Since the war began, US Air Force and Israeli Air Force cargo aircraft have landed in Israel to unload shipments of varying types of ammunition. At least 50 US Air Force C-5 and C-17 cargo aircraft have landed at Ramon Airport, a civilian airport near Eilat in Southern Israel, and Nevatim Airbase, also in the south of the country.

The emergency shipments included 57,000 155mm artillery shells, 5,000 Mark 82s, 6,000 Mark 84s, 1,500 GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs) and 3,000 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs).

According to the defence sources, one aircraft brought Tamir interceptor missiles for the Iron Dome air defence system which has been used extensively since October 7.

The US Army purchased two Iron Dome systems and the situation forced Israel to ask the US to return the interceptors sold as part of the deal. This has enabled the Iron Dome systems to operate at an unprecedented rate until Rafael can manufacture enough interceptors at its facilities.

Israel defence sources have said that all ammunition calculations would need to be made from scratch.

“This is a very clear conclusion and the situation will have to happen very fast,” the senior defence source commented.

The situation created by fighting on two fronts has impacted the future plans of the Israeli weapons industry with the focus switched to air-dropped bombs and interceptors.

Elbit Systems, which has been focused on manufacturing artillery and tank shells, and Rafael, which has been making air-dropped bombs, have been planning “massive” upgrades to their production lines.

Related Equipment in Defence Insight

Type 82/Type 85

Tamir

Iron Dome