The Co-Production of National and Technological Orders The Birth of Israel’s Military Research Organization Ari Barell The Jacques Loeb Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel aribuniversity@gmail.com Abstract This paper will follow the birth of Israel’s first military research organization, the Israeli Science Corps (“Hemed” in Hebrew), and present a glimpse at a formative moment in the creation of Israel’s military R&D system which is responsible for Israel’s leading role as an arms exporter and high-tech center. The article presents the historical context of Hemed’s establishment, explores the different actors involved in the struggle over its creation, and points to some of the reasons for Hemed’s success in becoming an important participant in arms production. The emergence of a new military R&D organization marked the rise and institutionalization of a new weapon-production culture promoting research, experimentation, and technological innovations. The outcome of this coalition between a group of scientists, a political leader, civilian industry, and academic institutions provides a case study in the co-production of new socio-political and technological orders. Keywords military R&D – military technology – Israel – innovation Despite its relatively young age and small size, Israel is one of the world’s top ten arms exporters with annual arms sales of billions of dollars. The Israeli military industry developed, among other things, the Uzi submachine gun, the Merkava tank, Amos and Ofek series satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles (uavs), the Iron Dome air defense system, and almost brought to market a © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2022 | doi:10.1163/22134603-09010007 Vulcan 9 (2021) 147–175