defence.professionals

11:12 GMT, February 2, 2010 SASA, Israel | Plasan, a global leader in survivability and combat-proven armor solutions for vehicles, airborne platforms and personal protection, announces the delivery of 25 SandCat vehicles in cooperation with Oshkosh Defense, for the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense. Plasan was awarded this contract December 2008.

During a visit to Israel earlier this month, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Bulgarian Minister of Defence Nikolay Mladenov examined the SandCat up close, followed by meetings with their Israeli counterparts: Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak.

Mr. Yaron Roded, Director for Marketing and Business Development at Plasan, comments: "The SandCat design fits perfectly into today's peacekeeping and HLS tasks, taking into account the emerging threats while maintaining the required flexibility for off-road and on-road mission profile which are so essential for many armies, police, and SWAT teams world-wide."

Earlier this month, Plasan welcomed Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak to its facilities in Kibbutz Sasa. This visit marks an additional award to deliver 79 SandCats specifically designed for the Israeli Border Police Patrol; a contract valued at $14 million. As opposed to vehicles currently in use by IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) such as the Armored HMMWV'e (190hp), Up-armored Storm Jeep (180hp) and Armored Land-rover "David" (122hp) the SandCat is equipped with a 6.4L, V8 Turbo Diesel engine with 350hp output capable to reach a maximum speed of 130km/h.

The SandCat is based on an upgraded commercial off-the-shelf Ford F-Series 4x4 chassis, adapted by Oshkosh Defense for military use and fitted with Plasan advanced Metal Composite & Ceramics Composite armor. The SandCat provides a high level of protection for the crew while maintaining excellent maneuverability capabilities.

The SandCat design is state-of-the-art in all aspects: exterior design, choice of materials, ergonomics, integration of advanced electronic systems, NBC safety systems, suspended/collapsible seats are part of the Blast mitigation system and the advanced composite materials against IEDs and road side bombs are providing high level of crew survivability.

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Company or Organisation Portrait:
Plasan provides customized survivability solutions for tactical wheeled vehicles, aircraft, naval platforms, civilian armored vehicles and personal protection. A recognized global leader and industry veteran, Plasan's survivability solutions offer the optimal combination of protection, payload, and cost by combining in-house R&D, design, prototyping and manufacturing capabilities.

Plasan combines innovative survivability engineering and design with advanced armor materials development. Its unique development process is based on continuous interaction between the R&D and the Design & Prototyping departments. During this process, Plasan combines computer-generated analysis and simulations with real-time calibration and ballistic test data. The effective combination of test and simulation data enables improved simulation accuracy and performance, resulting in the optimal survivability solution.

Plasan's engineers are unique in terms of their military backgrounds and hands-on experience. As veterans of the Israel Defense Forces they are familiar with soldiers' behavior during combat and share a common language with the end user. This often contributes to the development of life saving solutions.

Plasan's success is a combination of innovation, a high level of commitment and a full range of in-house capabilities. As a preferred supplier to the Israel Defense Forces and an approved supplier to ministries of defense around the world, Plasan's solutions have been tried and tested by dozens of armed forces in the most demanding battlefields such as Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan.

As a global company with locations in Israel, North America and Europe, Plasan is a worldwide market leader. Plasan's production capabilities are complemented by a comprehensive supply chain that encompasses suppliers of materials, equipment and solutions in strategic locations worldwide. This extensive network enables the production capacity flexibility necessary to expand or reduce production volumes according to demand. Please visit http://www.plasan.com.

Company or Organisation Contact:
Mr. Yaron Roded
Marketing Director
+972-54-2872243
yaronr@plasan.com

Hadas Weizman
Media Relations Manager
+972-542-872-110
hadasw@plasan.com