Plasan Delivers 25 Sandcats to Bulgaria

It looks like the world’s armies are hungry for motorization these days: Earlier today, we reported that a fleet of military Mercedes Benz G-Wagon Vehicles reached the Australian Defense force. Now, Plasan, an Israeli global provider of armor solutions for vehicles, announced the delivery of 25 Sandcat vehicles together with its partner Oshkosh Defense, for the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense.

Plasan signed the contract back in December 2008. Earlier this month, Bulgarian officials were given a throughout presentation of the Sandcat during a meeting with their Israeli counterparts.

"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," Mr. Yaron Roded, Director for Marketing and Business Development at Plasan said.

Earlier this month, Plasan delivered 79 units of a bespoke Sandcat version, adapted specifically for the Israeli Border Police Patrol. The Israeli Defense Forces currently have a vehicle fleet comprising of Armored HMMWVs (190HP), Up-armored Storm Jeeps (180HP) and Armored Land Rovers (122HP), so the Sandcat will be its flagship vehicle.

The Sandcat is based on a heavily modified Ford F-Series 4x4 platform, tweaked by Oshkosh Defense to meet military requirements and armored with Plasan high-tech Metal Composite and Ceramics Composite parts. The vehicle uses a 6.4 liter turbocharged V8 diesel engine which delivers 350 HP. This gives the Sandcat a top speed of 130 km/h. The armored vehicle can also be fitted with a remote weapon station as an option.