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Ford MILITARY

MILITARY AUDIT UPDATED 2026-06-14
Military Score 2.47 /10 D Ford - BDS-1000 379
Military 2.47

Evidence-only forensic audit. Scoring happens downstream - see the main dossier for the composite assessment.

Military Audit: Ford Motor Company

Audit Phase: Military Subject Entity: Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F; incorporated Delaware, USA) Registered Address: One American Road, Dearborn, Michigan 48126, United States Audit Date: June 2026 Scope: Forensic inventory of any military or defence nexus between Ford Motor Company and the Israeli military, security, or defence sector - direct defence contracting and procurement, dual-use products and tactical variants, heavy machinery, supply-chain integration with Israeli defence primes, logistical sustainment, munitions/weapons platforms, export-licensing history, and documented civil-society scrutiny. Evidence only; no scoring or interpretation. Evidence Base: Israeli business press (Globes), defence trade press (Army Recognition, Defense Update, Defence Blog, Jerusalem Post), NGO corporate-accountability databases (Who Profits, AFSC Investigate), Israeli defence-manufacturer disclosures (Plasan), the UN OHCHR settlements database and the Special Rapporteur (Albanese) A/HRC/59/23 report, corporate and trade reporting. All claims carry an inline reference marker; source URLs appear only in the End Notes.

Direct Defence Contracting & Procurement

In 1999 Delek Motors became the exclusive importer and distributor of Ford in Israel; Delek Motors is a subsidiary of Delek Maā€™arakhot Rekhev, a public company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and part of the Delek group.1

In 2001, a contract was concluded to supply approximately 1,000 Ford F-350 pickup trucks to the Israeli army; under the Who Profits account, 750 were to replace older trucks and 300 were designated as ambulances, with the purchase financed through US military aid to Israel.1 Contemporaneous Globes reporting (October 2001) described the same procurement as a contract worth over US$100 million covering over 1,000 Ford F-350 heavy-tender vehicles (with thousands of vehicles in the overall tender), negotiated over more than two years with Fordā€™s international export division, replacing the IDFā€™s Abir command car, financed by US military aid, and supplied over a five-year period.2 The reported headline figure differs between sources - Who Profits states US$40 million for the 1,000-truck tranche, while Globes references a value of over US$100 million inclusive of per-vehicle and maintenance costs; this discrepancy is unresolved against a primary procurement document.12

Under the 2001 arrangement, Delek Motorsā€™ service department was to provide day-to-day maintenance for the vehicles over the five-year supply horizon.2 (Logistical sustainment is addressed further below.)

Additional procurement events documented in civil-society sources include: a 2011 Israeli Ministry of Defence tender for heavy-load pickup trucks valued at approximately NIS 750 million in which Ford was expected to compete (award outcome not confirmed in reviewed records);1 a 2017 purchase of approximately 290 Ford F-150 and F-350 trucks;3 a November 2022 expedited IMOD procurement of 50 Plasan SandCat armoured vehicles built on the Ford F-550 platform, valued at over NIS 50 million;3 and an accelerated IMOD purchase of US-made armoured vehicles including vans and SUVs made by Ford following the October 2023 outbreak of hostilities.3

Ford Motor Company has not been identified as a named prime contractor in Israelā€™s Defence Export and Defence Cooperation Directorate (SIBAT) public-facing export directories or international defence-exhibition catalogues in the records reviewed. No Ford corporate announcement framing Israeli sales as defence cooperation or a joint military venture was identified; the identified IMOD-facing announcements originated from Delek Motors or Israeli business and defence press.23

Dual-Use Products & Tactical Variants

Fordā€™s F-Series Super Duty commercial trucks - the F-350 and F-550 in particular - serve as the foundational commercial chassis for multiple Israeli military and security tactical vehicles.1345 These are standard commercial heavy-duty vehicles; the militarisation (armouring, autonomy, weapons integration) is performed downstream by Israeli and third-party defence contractors. Ford does not manufacture or market purpose-built military variants of the F-Series for Israeli end-users in the records reviewed.13

Plasan SandCat / SandCat Tigris (EX11, MK4): The SandCat is a composite-armoured multi-mission vehicle manufactured by Plasan Sasa of Israel on a commercial Ford F-550 chassis and drivetrain, with the standard body stripped and an armoured capsule fitted; the suspension retains Fordā€™s original live axles, and the vehicle is powered by a Ford 6.7-litre PowerStroke V8 diesel producing 330 horsepower.456 Who Profits records the SandCat Tigris as carrying a driver and up to eight soldiers, protected against anti-tank fire, stones and Molotov cocktails, with firing slots added to allow shooting from inside.3 In November 2022 the IMOD director of procurement expedited the purchase of 50 SandCat (EX11) vehicles following an IDF request, with Plasan beginning deliveries of the first batch in early 2023.567 These SandCat Tigris vehicles, delivered to the IMOD at the beginning of 2023 under an emergency procedure, have been deployed in operational activities in Gaza and documented in use during military operations and arrests in Jenin in the occupied West Bank.38 Army Recognition reported the 50-vehicle order as procured for use in near-nightly IDF raids across the West Bank, partially replacing ageing AIL Storm jeeps.8 Plasanā€™s corporate website lists the SandCat / Tigris as an active product line.9

Border Protector / Segev Unmanned Ground Vehicle (Elbit Systems): Elbit Systems developed the Border Protector UGV - a commercial Ford F-350 pickup fitted with remote-driving technology, driving cameras, a 360-degree observation camera, and communication systems - which Israel deployed along the Gazaā€“Israel border from 2016.31011 Elbitā€™s Segev unmanned ground combat vehicle, likewise built on the Ford F-350, is a remotely driven or autonomous platform; the Israeli military began deploying the Segev in 2016, and an armed variant carrying a remotely operated weapon station has been reported.31011 Fordā€™s contribution is limited to the commercial F-350 chassis; the autonomy and weapons systems are Elbit proprietary integrations.311

Wolf (Zeā€™ev) armoured vehicle: The Wolf armoured personnel carrier, used mainly by the IDF, is based on a modified commercial Ford F-550 (4Ɨ4) chassis fitted with an all-welded steel armoured body; it was developed as a private venture with Rafael Armament Development Authority as overall prime contractor, with the first prototype completed in 2002 and the first production order (approximately US$14 million) placed in early 2005.12 AFSC Investigate records the Wolf as deployed from 2006 and gradually replaced by 2019.13

Hatehof / Carmor armoured personnel carriers: During the Second Intifada period (reported around 2003), Ford F-550 trucks were retrofitted by the Israeli firm Hatehof into armoured personnel carriers for IDF use in the West Bank.1

Caracal Battalion patrol use: Who Profits documents Ford vehicles in use by the IDF ā€œCaracalā€ unit for patrols along the occupied Jordan Valley, West Bank areas near the Separation Wall, and the Israeliā€“Egyptian border.1

Israeli police armoured vehicles: Following the October 2023 attacks, the Israeli police finalised the acquisition of armoured patrol vehicles based on the Ford F550 (alongside Toyota Land Cruiser), each armoured patrol vehicle priced at approximately NIS 1.5 million (about US$402,000), meeting CEN EN 1063 / 1522/1523 ballistic standards.14

US commercial heavy-duty pickup trucks of this class are generally treated as standard commercial goods rather than purpose-built military equipment; no public evidence was identified of Ford itself filing export-licence applications or end-user certificates specifically for Israeli defence or security sales (addressed under Export Licensing below).3

Heavy Machinery, Construction & Infrastructure

No public evidence identified of Ford Motor Company as a principal corporate actor in Israeli settlement construction, separation-barrier infrastructure, quarrying, or Palestinian home demolition. Who Profitsā€™ dedicated report on heavy engineering machinery and the Israeli occupation identifies Caterpillar, Volvo, JCB, Hyundai and other earth-moving manufacturers as the dominant actors in demolition and settlement infrastructure; Ford is not named as a principal actor in that report.15

Ford-based tactical vehicles (SandCat, Wolf, border-police pickups) are documented operating in the West Bank in patrol, raid and checkpoint-enforcement contexts,138 but no reviewed source identifies Ford vehicles being used for the physical construction, maintenance, expansion or demolition of settlement housing, the separation barrier, or military-installation construction.15

Ford operates a heavy-commercial-vehicle joint venture in Turkey (Ford Otosan), which produces the Ford F-Max and other heavy trucks (16ā€“40 tonnes) marketed to Turkey, the Middle East including Israel, and other regions; Ford Trucks engaged the Israeli firm CYMOTIVE Technologies for vehicle-type cybersecurity compliance certification.16 No documentary evidence was identified linking Ford Otosan vehicles to Israeli settlement construction, separation-barrier building, or home-demolition operations in any reviewed UN, NGO or news source.1516

Supply Chain Integration with Defence Primes

Plasan Sasa - commercial chassis basis (ongoing): The most clearly documented relationship is the commercial Ford F-550 chassis that Plasan Sasa uses as the structural basis for the SandCat armoured-vehicle family; Plasan strips the standard body and performs all armour integration independently.459 Reviewed sources describe this as Plasan building on a commercially available Ford chassis rather than a named Fordā€“Plasan defence co-production agreement.45 No public evidence was identified of Ford being a named party to Plasanā€™s SIBAT export-licence applications, or of a SIBAT licence decision naming Ford as a component supplier requiring separate authorisation.

Elbit Systems - Ford F-350 chassis basis: Elbitā€™s Border Protector and Segev unmanned ground vehicles are built on the commercial Ford F-350 platform, with Elbit integrating remote-driving, autonomy, observation and (in the armed variant) weapon-station systems.31011 No reviewed source documents a formal direct supply agreement between Ford Motor Company and Elbit Systems for these programmes; the chassis relationship is consistent with commercial vehicle purchase rather than a named defence supply contract.311

Rafael / Hatehof - Wolf armoured vehicle: The Wolf APC is built on a commercial Ford F-550 chassis with Rafael Armament Development Authority as overall prime contractor and Hatehof as integrator; the Ford contribution is the commercial base chassis.12

IAI, Rafael (other programmes), Israel Military Industries / Elbit Land: No public evidence identified of Ford Motor Company supplying components, sub-systems, raw materials, or specialist manufacturing services to Israel Aerospace Industries, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, or Israel Military Industries for their primary combat or strategic platforms, beyond the commercial-chassis bases noted above. Where a supply relationship is identified, the component category is limited to complete commercial vehicle chassis and drivetrain (engine, transmission, live axles, frame); no optical, electronic, guidance, communications, propulsion, or armour-material supply by Ford to an Israeli defence prime was identified.45

No public evidence identified of any joint development programme, co-production agreement, technology-transfer arrangement, or licensed-manufacturing agreement between Ford Motor Company and any Israeli defence prime; the militarisation in each documented case is performed unilaterally by the Israeli integrator on a commercially purchased Ford platform.4511

Logistical Sustainment & Base Services

Delek Motors IDF fleet maintenance (2001 onwards): Under the 2001 procurement, Delek Motorsā€™ service department was to provide day-to-day maintenance of the IDF Ford fleet over the stated five-year supply period, placing fleet sustainment for the military vehicles with the civilian importer.2 The status of any successor maintenance arrangement beyond that initial period was not established in the records reviewed.

Israeli police / security fleet servicing: Ford F-550-based armoured vehicles acquired by the Israeli police after October 2023 are serviced through the Israeli importer network; no Ford Motor Company-held base-services contract was identified in the reviewed sources.14

Military installation service contracts: No public evidence identified of Ford Motor Company holding direct service contracts - facilities management, catering, fuel supply, waste management, or telecommunications - with IDF bases, military training facilities, or detention centres in Israel, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, or elsewhere.

Shipping and freight services: No public evidence identified of Ford Motor Company holding shipping, freight-forwarding, or port-handling contracts specifically servicing Israeli defence logistics, military cargo, or arms shipments.

Munitions, Weapons Systems & Strategic Platforms

Ford Motor Company has no identified role as a prime contractor, licensed manufacturer, or component supplier for any complete lethal platform - small arms, artillery, armoured fighting vehicle as a weapons system, tactical drone, naval vessel, or other lethal system - supplied to Israeli forces.3411 Ford manufactures the commercial base chassis only; weapons-system integration in the documented cases is performed by Plasan (armour) and Elbit Systems (autonomy and weapon stations).3411

The most proximate connection between a Ford-supplied component and a lethal system is the armed variant of Elbitā€™s Segev unmanned ground combat vehicle, in which Elbit integrated a remotely operated weapon station onto a Ford F-350 chassis; the chassis is the commercial Ford platform and the weapons integration is entirely Elbitā€™s.31011

No public evidence identified of Ford supplying ammunition, explosive ordnance, propellants, warhead components, or munitions-precursor materials to any Israeli defence end-user.

No public evidence identified of any Ford role in the manufacture, integration, maintenance, or component supply of Israeli strategic defence platforms - including Iron Dome, Davidā€™s Sling, the Arrow interceptor family, F-35 aircraft, Merkava main battle tanks, or any naval or ballistic-missile system. Ford was not identified in any of these supply chains in the records reviewed.

Export Licensing, Regulatory & Legal History

US export-licence status: No public evidence identified of a specific US Commerce Department (BIS) or State Department (DDTC) export-licence decision, commodity-classification ruling, or advisory opinion specifically addressing Ford F-Series vehicle sales to Israeli military or security end-users. The 2001 procurement and subsequent vehicle purchases were financed through US military aid to Israel and routed via the Israeli importer.12

Embargo and sanctions compliance: No public evidence identified of Ford Motor Company being investigated, cited, penalised, or sanctioned by any government authority - including BIS, OFAC, the UK Export Control Joint Unit, or EU dual-use enforcement bodies - for arms-embargo, export-control, or sanctions violations in connection with its supply relationship with Israel.

UK export licensing: No Ford Motor Company-specific export licence for military or dual-use goods to Israel was identified in reviewed UK export-control reporting; the relevant F-Series platform is US-manufactured and US-exported, and Fordā€™s UK manufacturing does not produce the F-Series Super Duty.

Legal challenges and judicial review: No public evidence identified of court proceedings, judicial reviews, or legal challenges brought against Ford Motor Company - or against any government concerning a Ford export application - relating specifically to a defence or military supply relationship with Israel.

ICC / ICJ filings: No public evidence identified of any ICC or ICJ filing naming Ford Motor Company as a respondent, interested party, or named corporate actor.

Civil Society Scrutiny & Documented Investigations

NGO & Database Investigations

Who Profits Research Center: Who Profits maintains a Ford Motor Company company profile and a dedicated report, ā€œFordā€™s Sales to the Israeli Army,ā€ documenting the 2001 IMOD F-350 procurement, the Delek Motors distribution and maintenance arrangement, the SandCat and Border Protector/Segev chassis relationships, the 2017 and November 2022 purchases, and post-October 2023 emergency procurement of Ford vehicles.13 Who Profits categorises Ford as a documented participant in the Israeli military supply chain; its reporting draws substantially on Israeli business press (Globes) and IMOD communications rather than internal Ford documents.13

AFSC Investigate: The American Friends Service Committeeā€™s Investigate platform maintains a Ford Motor Company profile documenting the SandCat (Plasan, deployed since 2023), the Segev UGCV (Elbit, 2016), and the Wolf APC (Ford F-550, deployed 2006, replaced by 2019), and notes that Ford vehicles are armoured and retrofitted for the Israeli military by companies including Plasan; the profile also documents Ford vehicle use by US law-enforcement, prison and immigration-enforcement agencies (a separate, non-Israel matter).13

UN OHCHR settlements database: Ford Motor Company is not named in the UN OHCHR database of business enterprises involved in activities relating to Israeli settlements, including its September 2025 update listing 158 enterprises; the only automotive entity identified in the reviewed summary of that database is Mayerā€™s Cars and Trucks Co.1718

UN Special Rapporteur (Albanese) A/HRC/59/23: The Special Rapporteurā€™s July 2025 report ā€œFrom economy of occupation to economy of genocide,ā€ which names corporations financially bound to Israelā€™s military and occupation, does not name Ford Motor Company in the reviewed summaries; the automotive/heavy-machinery companies referenced include Caterpillar, Hyundai and Volvo.1920

SAIPS Acquisition & Tel Aviv R&D Centre

Ford acquired the Israeli computer-vision and machine-learning startup SAIPS (Rehovot) in August 2016 - its first acquisition in Israel - and described the technology as supporting autonomous-vehicle development; Ford subsequently opened a Tel Aviv research centre.2122 In September 2023 Ford closed the Israeli autonomous-vehicle R&D centre built on the SAIPS acquisition, terminating the centreā€™s approximately 30 employees, while a small separate innovation presence was reported to remain.2223 No public evidence was identified of SAIPS-derived technology being licensed, transferred, or incorporated into Israeli military targeting, ISR, or autonomous-weapons programmes.2123

Ford X / Twitter Account Compromise (December 2024)

In late December 2024, Ford Motor Companyā€™s official X account was briefly compromised, with unauthorised posts stating ā€œIsrael is a terrorist state,ā€ ā€œFree Palestine,ā€ and ā€œALL EYES ON GAZAā€; Ford deleted the posts, stated they were not authorised or posted by Ford, said it was investigating, and apologised.2425 This was a cybersecurity incident and not a corporate policy statement.

Boycott, Divestment & Corporate Policy

No major organised, named BDS or institutional-divestment campaign specifically targeting Fordā€™s Israeli military supply chain - of the scale directed at Caterpillar, HP, or Elbit Systems - was identified in the records reviewed; Fordā€™s vehicles are referenced within civil-society reporting (Who Profits, AFSC) rather than as the subject of a standalone divestment decision.1313

Fordā€™s published human-rights and supplier-conduct materials address supply-chain due diligence in general terms and were not identified to contain Israel-specific provisions on military supply chains, the SandCat/Segev chassis relationships, or end-use monitoring of vehicles sold through its Israeli distributor.13

End Notes

Footnotes

  1. https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/78 ā†© ā†©2 ā†©3 ā†©4 ā†©5 ā†©6 ā†©7 ā†©8 ā†©9 ā†©10 ā†©11 ā†©12 ā†©13

  2. https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-532071 ā†© ā†©2 ā†©3 ā†©4 ā†©5 ā†©6

  3. https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/3658 ā†© ā†©2 ā†©3 ā†©4 ā†©5 ā†©6 ā†©7 ā†©8 ā†©9 ā†©10 ā†©11 ā†©12 ā†©13 ā†©14 ā†©15 ā†©16 ā†©17 ā†©18 ā†©19 ā†©20 ā†©21

  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasan_SandCat ā†© ā†©2 ā†©3 ā†©4 ā†©5 ā†©6 ā†©7 ā†©8

  5. https://www.armyrecognition.com/archives/archives-land-defense/land-defense-2022/israel-defense-force-gets-50-new-plasan-sandcat-armored-vehicles-for-west-bank-raids ā†© ā†©2 ā†©3 ā†©4 ā†©5 ā†©6 ā†©7

  6. https://militaryleak.com/2023/01/03/plasan-delivers-sandcat-ex11-light-armored-vehicles-to-israel-defense-forces/ ā†© ā†©2

  7. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-723300 ā†©

  8. https://defenceredefined.com.cy/plasan-ramps-up-production-of-sandcat-tigris-armored-vehicles-for-idf/ ā†© ā†©2 ā†©3

  9. https://plasan.com/tactical-armored-vehicles/ ā†© ā†©2

  10. https://sofrep.com/news/robot-patrol-israeli-army-deploy-autonomous-vehicles-gaza-border/ ā†© ā†©2 ā†©3 ā†©4

  11. https://imemc.org/article/armed-autonomous-ford-trucks-to-patrol-gazas-besieged-border/ ā†© ā†©2 ā†©3 ā†©4 ā†©5 ā†©6 ā†©7 ā†©8 ā†©9

  12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_Armoured_Vehicle ā†© ā†©2

  13. https://investigate.info/company/ford ā†© ā†©2 ā†©3 ā†©4

  14. https://www.armyrecognition.com/news/army-news/army-news-2024/israeli-police-enhance-security-with-acquisition-of-armored-vehicles ā†© ā†©2

  15. https://www.whoprofits.org/writable/uploads/publications/1668628326_d431e6ac8c4db6e661ba.pdf ā†© ā†©2 ā†©3

  16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Otosan ā†© ā†©2

  17. https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/israelopt-un-updates-database-of-businesses-involved-in-illegal-israeli-settlements-listing-158-enterprises-from-11-countries/ ā†©

  18. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/un-human-rights-office-updates-database-businesses-involved-israeli ā†©

  19. https://www.un.org/unispal/document/a-hrc-59-23-from-economy-of-occupation-to-economy-of-genocide-report-special-rapporteur-francesca-albanese-palestine-2025/ ā†©

  20. https://law4palestine.org/summary-of-the-un-special-rapporteurs-report-on-corporate-complicity-in-the-economy-of-occupation-and-genocide-including-a-list-of-referenced-companies/ ā†©

  21. https://nocamels.com/2016/08/ford-buys-israeli-startup-saips/ ā†© ā†©2

  22. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-09-05/ty-article/.premium/ford-closing-israeli-r-d-center-working-on-autonomous-vehicles/0000018a-670f-d59f-a9ca-ff2f39810000 ā†© ā†©2

  23. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/skfvpxsah ā†© ā†©2

  24. https://www.timesofisrael.com/ford-apologizes-for-x-post-declaring-israel-is-a-terrorist-state/ ā†©

  25. https://www.jta.org/2024/12/31/united-states/ford-motor-company-apologizes-after-x-account-posts-israel-is-a-terrorist-state ā†©