The Fouga Airplane Project

Introduction

The advanced technological level of today's industry in Israel is well known. Israel is among many nations that received their independence after World War II, but the only one that has reached a per capita income level approaching that of long-independent Western nations, without having large oil revenues. One easily forgets that as late as the 1920s, the country was considered agrarian with industry practically nonexistent. In 1926 the Palestine Economic Corporation noted that "Palestine is an underdeveloped frontier country lacking in most elements which safeguard economic life."¹ The first Mandate industrial census for 1928 determined that "Industry in the wide sense of the word was not in existence in Palestine before World War I."²

The outlook for industrialization of Palestine, in the period following World War I, did not look promising. "The underlying assumption of [the British] colonial rule precluded encouragement of local industry and for the first five years the incipient industrial community was largely ignored."³ In the historical Zionist outlook industrial development was considerably less significant than agriculture.

Education in the Jewish sector was considered of great importance. Although there was practically no industrial base in Palestine, the Tecknikum⁴ opened its doors in 1924 with the Hebrew University following the year after. High Schools as well as vocational schools were also established. Industrial development in Palestine, until World War II, was slow. Output was primitive and unsophisticated. Efforts were made to manufacture weapons for the Jewish underground organizations but this had to be conducted clandestinely and the output was limited to small arms, ammunition, grenades, mines, etc.

The outbreak of World War II provided a growth opportunity for Jewish industrial activity but this was of a temporary nature. Only with the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948 did industry begin to develop rapidly. The search for technical information abroad gained momentum. Defense contractors were established and agreements made with foreign firms for the manufacture in Israel of a broad range of civilian and military products; amongst these were machine tools, and electrical equipment, as well as the assembly of the Kaiser Frazer automobile. At the same time, the importance of local research and development was being recognized.

There is a conundrum. How was it possible to reach the advanced stage mentioned earlier during a relatively short period of time? As to the Fouga airplane, we have to bear in mind that the country was founded less than a decade before its manufacture was considered. Israel lacked material and manpower resources necessary to produce such an advanced military product. A simplistic answer would be transfer of technology; take advanced Western technology and set it down in a less developed country. This, of course, is correct but experience has shown that success is not always assured. Technology transfer often fails when the difference between donor and recipient culture is great. A number of other factors also come in to play.

A further question is to what extent Fouga manufacture provided the needed stepping stone for the transformation of the company from a medium sized overhaul and maintenance facility to a world-recognized aerospace manufacturer? Could the output of this project already be considered "Israeli technology" or was it at least a step in that direction? It was this project that contributed a great deal to the general industrialization of the country. The Fouga is, of course, just one example of the industry but is of special interest since it is the first sophisticated and complex industrial artifact made locally. The mutual impact of technology and society is a focal point in this article, illustrating the specific Israeli elements.

Research for this article is based not only on archival material and literature, but to a great extent on interviews with personnel, at all levels, active in the project or who were influential in relevant decision making. Relatively little archival material has been kept, such that very few written records of pertinent occurrences are available. The information obtained through interviews was important...