Article Posted on : - Feb 24, 2011

Paramount Low Profile Vehicle (PLPV) or Mbombe.

ABU DHABI (BNS): South Africa's Paramount Group has signed a joint venture with UAE's International Golden Group (IGG), to manufacture the IED's and mine protected armoured vehicles for Gulf State countries.

The JV was announced at the ongoing International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi.

For the first time the Paramount group has showcased the Paramount Low Profile Vehicle (PLPV), which is also known as ‘Mbombe’ outside South Africa.

“Our partnership with IGG continues the revolution in armoured vehicle technology and design for which South Africa is world-renowned. By bringing our vehicles to the Middle East, IGG will be presenting one of the world's most sophisticated defence purchasing markets with the very pinnacle of new technology and design in armoured vehicles,” Ivor Ichikowitz, Executive Chairman of the Paramount Group, said while announcing the JV.

According to the company, in the medium term the JV will be founded on shared technology and the strengthening of economic and political ties between South Africa and the UAE.

In the longer term the company will try to establish and manufacture bases in the UAE to serve the Middle East and Asian markets, it said.