Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) continues to diversify its ground operations with the acquisition of the manufacturing of Zibar, Zmag, and ZD vehicle from off-road vehicle manufacturer Ido Cohen.
The all-terrain vehicles will be upgraded for military and homeland defense applications with a range of intelligence, radar, and communication systems manufactured by IAI's ELTA Systems, including the Drone Guard system for drone detection and foiling, air defense, and intelligence collection systems.
Under the deal, IAI will receive rights to the design of the vehicles and will market them to defense entities in Israel and abroad following their upgrade. Ido Cohen will continue to manufacture and sell the vehicles for civilian applications.
The vehicles, which are manufactured entirely in Israel, offer excellent performance and mobility even in extremely difficult off-road conditions. IAI will adapt them to a broad range of operational military and homeland defense configurations in line with the needs of IAI’s customers.
IAI VP and ELTA CEO Yoav Turgeman said, "We are excited to collaborate with Ido Cohen, a visionary vehicle manufacturer from Israel. IAI offers a broad range of ground intelligence, robotics, autonomous vehicles and remote sensing capabilities. Integrating these capabilities on the Z Vehicle Family provides significant added value to the operational capabilities ELTA provides existing and future customers. The off-road vehicles will fulfill the operational needs of the ground forces for defense, assault, and intelligence."
ELTA’s new ground forces facility is under construction at an investment of tens of millions in innovative technological and R&D infrastructure. ELTA Beersheva will perform the vehicle development and upgrade to provide an integrated, systemic response that includes mobility, defense and assault for the forces in the field.
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