Plasan Yagu Armors Up The ATV For Border Patrol

Side-by-side ATVs can be pretty handy off-road. So much so that military and law-enforcement agencies have been known to use them as light-attack vehicles or for border patrol duty. The problem is that they’re completely open, and offer no protection from hostile forces. Enter the Yagu.

The armored-up Arctic Cat Wildcat is the work of Plasan, an Israeli military-equipment manufacturer based near the Lebanese border. The company also makes carbon fiber components in the US for high-performance American sports cars, like the Chevy Corvette and Dodge Viper.

Typically focused on larger, heavier machinery, Plasan’s new Yagu is an ultralight special-ops armored vehicle. It has room for a three-man crew, and offers B6+ composite armor protection to keep its occupants safe from anything up to and including high-powered rifle rounds.

The Wildcat, as standard, is powered by a 951-cc v-twin motorcycle engine. In stock form, it weighs about 1,500 pounds (680 kilograms). Performance is largely dependent on payload. And while the lightweight composite armor doesn’t weigh as much as heavier steel plating, the extra pounds are sure to slow it down some. The bottom line is that it won’t be outrunning Ford Raptors, but it may very well run circles around Humvees. Especially heavily armored ones.

More to the point, though, it offers the protection that typical ATVs can’t. With a machine gun turret on the roof, it may be the quickest, most effective way to get personnel and firepower to where they’re needed. And it’ll look pretty badass doing it, too.