Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz: The Merkava Mark 4 will be the IDF's main battle tank in the future.
Production of the Merkava Mark 4 tank will continue in the coming years, Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz said on Sunday at the annual convention of the Israel Metal Industries Association. He said the Merkava Mark 4 would be the IDF's main battle tank in the future, and that production would be stepped up to achieve this.
Mofaz added that the Ministry of Defense was considering preparing a plan to increase procurement of Israeli made products, instead of foreign ones. He said as many defense services and industries as possible would be privatized, including central IDF messes, provided that it was cheaper.
Mofaz said the IDF planned to move as many bases and installations as possible to the Negev. He said the defense establishment's guiding principle was to give up land in exchange for financing the move. He said moving costs were usually less that cost of the land.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on December 8, 2004