_A.jpg "צילום: ירון ברנר")
Equipment upgrade. Illustration
צילום: ירון ברנר
IDF completes first stage of reservists' equipment upgrade
Four year upgrade estimated at $469 million, includes emergency supplies, equipment upgrades for entire military array
The IDF has recently completed the first stage of its planned upgrade of the reserve forces' emergency supplies warehouses.
The upgrade includes obtaining emergency supplies and equipment for the Armor, Engineers and Intelligence Corps, Infantry brigades and special operation units, and is expected to be completed over the next four years.
The new equipment includes helmets, conical headwear, specs, light bullet-proof vests, ceramic vests and more. When finished, the upgrade would revolutionize the reserve forces' entire array of supplies.
The IDF sees completing the first stage of the upgrade just one year after the Second Lebanon War as an important accomplishment.
"The soldiers have equipment specific to their specialty in the field ready and waiting for them," a senior officer told Ynet Thursday. The IDF is also in the midst of converting thousands of M16 rifles by removing their forward assist feature, thus shortening them "and saving millions".
As part of implementing the lessons of war, senior reserve forces officers held lengthy meetings with the various departments of the IDF's Central Technological, Logistics, and Medical Directorate, headed by Colonel Nissim Peretz.
"After the full completion of the reserve forces' supplies upgrade, we'll start working on emergency supplies for the spatial brigade, the Home Front Command and the rest of the military," a senior officer said, adding that maximum effort was put into learning the reservists' needs, so when the time comes there would be no surprises.
The IDF Logistics Corp also began studying technological advancements which would allow parachuting equipment to soldiers in the field using global positioning systems.
The IDF spent $138 million in its upgrade in 2007, and is expected to spend $79 million in 2008. The project's overall cost is estimated at $469 million.
