Local aerospace company Denel Aerostructures (DAe), part of the State-owned Denel Group, has won a fourth contract to manufacture parts for the Airbus A400M military air transport and air-to-air refuelling aircraft. The new contract, which was won in an international bidding process, is worth more than R260-million and will run for six years.

“The new work package confirms Denel Aerostructures’ reputation as an emerging player in the global aerospace environment. It is a vote of confidence in the South African engineering and high-tech manufacturing sectors,” affirmed Denel Group CEO Riaz Saloojee. “It is quite clear that Airbus Defence and Space is satisfied with the quality of work we have delivered on other contracts over the past nine years and decided to place another work package with Denel.”

The new contract is to manufacture ISO locks for installation in the cargo holds of all A400Ms. These components are a combination of aluminium rails and cross tracks which serve to guide the movement of ISO containers within the cargo hold. The containers are then secured in their positions by a comprehensive system of locking mechanisms. The ISO locks will be manufactured to designs supplied by Airbus Defence and Space.

Each A400M is equipped with four parallel sets of aluminium rails and 32 cross tracks. The process of industrialisation is already under way and DAe will deliver its first ship set of ISO locks in September, to the A400M fuselage assembly plant in Bremen, in Germany. (A ship set is a complete set of the parts required for a single aircraft.) Ramp-up to serial production will take place next year and the South African company will produce and deliver at least 20 ship sets a year.

In addition, DAe will also make another rail system to handle smaller containers. This is designated the Central Guide Vehicle Restraint System and is required by some A400M customers. This system is especially useful for the airdropping of emergency supplies, which usually involves the use of smaller containers. This contract is worth more than R70-million.

The new contracts will also benefit DAe’s subcontractors. “The new contract strengthens our relationship with Airbus Defence and Space, but it also sends a signal to the global aerospace sector about the know-how and experience that are available within the South African manufacturing industry,” highlighted Saloojee.

DAe already manufactures the A400M wing/fuselage fairings, fuselage top shells (it was also responsible for the design of both these major components) as well as the ribs, spars and swords that form the internal structure of the vertical tail.