The Ministry of Defense, Ford International, and Delek Motors have officially signed a procurement contract for tactical vehicles. The vehicles are designed to replace the Abir command car. As reported in "Globes", the tender involves thousands of vehicles and is worth over $100 million. The vehicles will be supplied over five years, while Delek Motors' service department will provide day-to-day maintenance for the vehicles.
The new vehicles, based on the Ford F-350 heavy tender platform, have four-wheel drive, two driver seats, a 7.2-liter turbo diesel engine, and automatic transmission. The price tag is $25,000-30,000 before taxes, plus total maintenance costs of $20,000-30,000.
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) sources told "Globes" that the IDF would receive the first delivery of over 1,000 vehicles in the coming months. Negotiations for the deal with Ford's international export division took over two years. US military aid to Israel will finance the purchase.
Delek Motors is expected to market similar vehicles in Israel for the private market.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on October 30, 2001