The Z family of off-road vehicles developed by Ido Cohen will be upgraded at IAI’s ground forces facility for military and homeland defence applications with advanced military technologies
Israel Aerospace Industries (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 defence 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 defence, and intelligence collection systems. Under the deal, IAI will receive rights to the design of the vehicles and will market them to defence entities in Israel and abroad following their upgrade. Ido Cohen will continue to manufacture and sell the vehicles for civilian applications.
The vehicles are manufactured entirely in Israel. They 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 defence configurations in line with the needs of IAI’s customers.
Yoav Turgeman, IAI VP and CEO of ELTA, 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 defence, 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 Beer Sheba will perform the vehicle development and upgrade to provide an integrated, systemic response that includes mobility, defence and assault for the forces in the field.
ELTA Systems is Israel’s intelligence and radar house and a global leader in remote sensing, radar, breakthrough strategic systems such as mission aircraft, national cyber organizations, ground robotic systems, anti-drone defence, homeland defence systems, and more.
IAI to acquire the manufacturing operations of Zibar, Zmag, and ZD off-road vehicles, set to market the vehicles exclusively
