Peru to buy $23.8 million worth armored vehicles from Israeli firm

The vehicle’s armor is at Level 1, meaning it can withstand hits from 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm bullets, as well as improvised explosive devices.

By JNS

Peru’s interior ministry has contracted, through a tender, the purchase of 56 armored vehicles manufactured by Kibbutz Sasa-based firm Plasan for the National Police for approximately $23.8 million, the Peruvian press reported.

The contract was awarded to Plasan Sasa Ltd. on Nov. 7, and involves the acquisition of the “Sandcat EX12” multipurpose 4×4 armored vehicle, according to newspaper La República.

Plasan received the highest weighted score in the tender—89.26 points—besting competitors from the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Canada and even Israeli company Shladot, Hebrew-language finance outlet Globes reported.

Plasan’s short delivery time of 250 days was a main advantage for the Israeli firm, located in the Upper Galilee, the report added.

The Sandcat EX12 model was reportedly designed specifically for the Peruvian police and is aimed at improving crowd control and preventing civil disturbance.

The Sandcat is 19.7 feet long, 7.45 feet wide and 8.04 feet tall. Its operational weight is 19,400 pounds, its maximum road speed is 68 mph, and it has an operational range of about 373 miles, according to Globes.

The vehicle’s armor is at Level 1, meaning it can withstand hits from 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm bullets, as well as improvised explosive devices.

However, La República reported that Brig. Gen. Monish Datta, representative of Indian firm DCM Shriram Industries, submitted a formal appeal on behalf of a consortium with Israeli partner Gaia Behri that contests the legitimacy of the tender process, demanding to rescind the contract.

“The [evaluation] process did not adhere to the rules established in the international contracting guidelines,” Datta wrote, the Peruvian newspaper reported.

The evaluation committee “ignored key technical qualifications that are essential to determine which armored vehicle meets the user’s operational requirements. The omission of this technical procedure, designed to ensure an objective comparison of delivery schedules, renders the evaluation of the timing factor arbitrary and contrary to the stated rules,” Datta claimed.

The agency operating under Peru’s interior ministry, which was responsible for awarding Plasan the contract, rejected the consortium’s appeal, citing a failure to submit documents verifying the partnership between DCM Shriram and Gaia Behri, according to La República.