European aerospace company Airbus Military believes that its refund, last month, of South Africa’s initial payments and other costs (plus interest) regarding the A400M programme, from which this country withdrew in 2009, opens the way for the company to bid for other South African Air Force (SAAF) projects.

“The Department of Defence (DoD) has other acquisitions in its sights, including maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), VIP aircraft and there is also still the requirement for airlift, which hasn’t gone away,” Airbus Military spokesperson for Southern Africa Linden Birns told Engineering News Online on Tuesday.

He confirmed that the company is offering its C295 twin-turboprop aircraft for the SAAF’s MPA requirement. “We are talking to the SAAF and DoD to brief them on the A330 MRTT,” he added.

This latter is being proposed by the company as a multirole strategic tanker, transport and VIP aircraft (the letters MRTT stand for multirole tanker transport) for the SAAF. “The A330 MRTT could incorporate either a fixed VIP section or a modular one which could quite easily be removed if the aircraft needed to be reconfigured to perform other roles, say as a troop transport in a peacekeeping mission,” he explained.

“When there is clarity about what the South African government wants for airlift, we’ll offer which of our products is most appropriate to meet the identified requirement,” he said. “So far, we’ve heard nothing that would rule out the A400M.”

According to the DoD’s acquisitions and disposals agency Armscor, Airbus Military refunded €321 050 157.81, or R3 486 924 949.40. It took 18 months to negotiate this refund because, the agency stated in its press release, “this was the first time that Armscor was involved in the termination process of a contract of this magnitude”.

“We should furthermore hasten to say that the parties have never questioned the correctness of the decision taken by SA to terminate [the contract], neither was there any attempt on the part of Airbus to challenge SA in this regard,” explained Armscor. “This was a matter of following the process and the legal requirements involved in the matter.”

In its press release concerning the refund, Airbus Military pointed out that South Africa had originally ordered eight A400Ms in a fixed price contract worth €837-million, and that the price of the South African A400Ms was never increased. South African companies Denel Aerostructures and Aerosud have been and continue to be responsible for the design, engineering and manufacture of several significant parts of the aircraft.

“The investments we’ve already made [in South Africa regarding the A400M] are proof of our commitment to the country,” affirmed Birns on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the fifth flying prototype of the A400M, designated MSN6, call sign Grizzly 5, made its maiden flight, from Seville in Spain, on December 20.

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