Cancellation of South Africa’s participation in the troubled Airbus Military A400M airlifter project would gravely affect the country’s aerospace industry, warned Aerosud MD Dr Paul Potgieter on Thursday.

Talking to Engineering News Online, he said that “if South Africa cancelled the A400M, it would seriously damage the local aerospace industry.” Aerosud is South Africa’s largest private-sector aviation industrial company.

South Africa is a risk-sharing partner in the A400M programme, with eight of the aircraft on order for the South African Air Force. South African companies involved in the programme are Aerosud, Denel Saab Aerostructures, (both with the status of risk-sharing partners), Grintek and Omniples, with Armscor providing engineering services.

On Wednesday, South African defence acqusition, disposals and research and development agency Armscor CEO Sipho Thomo told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence that the acquisition costs for South Africa for all eight A400Ms had soared from R17-billion to R47-billion.

Aerosud is mainly responsible for secondary structures on the A400M. These are – nose fuselage linings, cargo hold linings, and cockpit linings, but the company is also making the cockpit rigid bulkhead, the wing tips, and the nose fuselage galleys. The wing tips are quite important because they will contain elements of the aircraft’s defence aids subsystem.

“From an Aerosud perspective, we are hugely committed to the growth of the South African aerospace industry,” affirmed Potgieter. “We regard the relationship with Airbus, including the A400M, as a most valuable attribute in achieving this. We have invested heavily in developing this relationship. Investing in adopting Airbus methodologies, certification and processes. We want to capitalise on this and grow this relationship.”

“I am not in a position to comment on the cost escalation figures quoted, but anything that would damage this relationship would be of extremely great concern for us,” he cautioned. “The problems on the A400M are not unique. There have been cost escalations on the Gautrain, on the stadiums for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and on the Boeing 787, for example.”

A total of 192 A400Ms are on order by nine countries.