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Defence & Aerospace

French aluminium investment set for Coega - Radebe

By: Irma Venter 20th June 2002 The establishment of the Pechiney aluminium smelter at Coega looks certain, says South Africa’s Public Enterprises Minister Jeff Radebe who met with the French company in Paris earlier this week. →

SA’s biggest jetline order signed

20th June 2002 South African Airways yesterday officially placed Africa’s largest single jetliner order when it formalised its acquisition of 41 new Airbus aircraft which will be used to modernise its entire fleet. →

Tanzania wants new deal on air system

19th June 2002 Tanzania is to demand a big reduction from British Aerospace (BAe) for its military air traffic control system after the disclosure by experts commissioned by the World Bank that the Tony Blair-backed deal was a ‘waste of money’ and that they had been sold ‘outdated... →

Defence re-equipping spins yet another offset contract

19th June 2002 South African company Avitronics, a joint venture owned by Grintek Limited (51%) and SAAB of Sweden (49%), has received an order in excess of R150-million, from the helicopter manufacturer Agusta-Westland, for the provision of the Avitronics multisensor warning system as part of a helicopter... →

World Bank critical of Tanzania air traffic plan

17th June 2002 A World Bank commissioned report raises serious concerns about Tanzania’s plan to spend $39-million on an air traffic control system to be provided by British aerospace company BAE Systems, in a contract which was backed by the British government last year. →

Composite textiles take the world by storm

By: Jill Stanford 14th June 2002 A Western Cape composite manufacturer is increasing its share in the world market with non-crimp fabrics. →

. . . missiles attract Brazilian interest

By: Keith Campbell 14th June 2002 THE Brazilian Navy is seriously considering buying South Africa’s Umkhonto naval surface to air missile. Coincidently, SK105 light tanks bought last year by the Brazilian Marines have SA gun stabilisers. →

First corvette soon for SA waters

12th June 2002 The first of the four patrol corvettes purchased by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) as part of the multibillion Rand arms acquisition deal, will soon be heading to the country’s waters. →

Africa's aerospace show attracts global interest

By: Keith Campbell 7th June 2002 WITH five months still to go, 80% of the exhibition space for the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) 2002 show has been sold. →

Ten SA manufacturers show the way in the export market

By: Deborah Spicer 7th June 2002 South Africa’s exports grew from R210-billion in 2000 to R251-billion last year in what should not be regarded as an exceptional year for exports but as part of a sustained pattern of export growth. →

Strategic defence research alliance struck

6th June 2002 A CSIR/Armscor strategic alliance has been established in order to create a world-class technology provider that will maximise the benefit of defence and related technology for the people of South Africa. →

Tanzania looks to sell 75% of airline

17th May 2002 Tanzania’s government said it wanted to sell a 75% stake in the State-owned Air Tanzania Corporation (ATC) as its privatisation process gains momentum. →

Swedish PM says jets sale to SA is taking off

14th May 2002 Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson said on Sunday that a planned sale of fighter jets to South Africa was running according to plan after talks with South African President Thabo Mbeki. →

Boost for airline's cargo-handling turn-around time

10th May 2002 The cargo division of South African Airways, with the Psion Teklogix Narrowband solution, significantly increased its contribution to the airline's profit through improved efficiency, better use of assets and streamlining of systems to provide improved customer service. →

New periscopes designed in SA

By: Keith Campbell 10th May 2002 THE 10 new periscopes which are to be manufactured by Denel Eloptro under the recent agreement between the company and Zeiss Optronik of Germany were entirely designed by Eloptro. →

SA-France create new aerospace company

3rd May 2002 South Africa’s defence parastatal Denel and Turbomeca, part of the Snecma group of France, created a new company, Turbomeca Africa, for the manufacture of engine components and maintenance of helicopter engines and industrial turbines for trains and cogeneration. →

Future of navy fleet charted . . .

By: Keith Campbell 3rd May 2002 THE South African Navy (SAN) has charted out the shape of its fleet over the next 20 years. →

. . . but local shipbuilding unlikely

By: Keith Campbell 3rd May 2002 IT is unlikely that future naval acquisition programmes will see the local construction of vessels for the South African Navy (SAN), Engineering News can report. →

Third Middle-East contract for SA armoured vehicle maker

29th April 2002 Defence equipment maker Vickers OMC announced its third contract for RG-12 multipurpose vehicles in the Middle East in the last six months. →

SA defence parastatal to restructure by June

25th April 2002 South Africa hopes to conclude separate strategic partnerships between its Denel Aerospace Group, Britain’s BAE Systems and Turbomeca of France by the end of June, officials told legislators. →

Navy promises local support

By: Keith Campbell 19th April 2002 THE South African Navy (SAN) is planning to make more extensive use of South African industry to support its fleet in the coming years and decades. →

$6-billion in defence offset deals by 2004 – Erwin

By: Terence Creamer 19th April 2002 Government is forecasting that the value of approved civilian offset projects and exports, arising from the multibillion-rand defence acquisition programme, will be worth some $6-billion by 2004, more than $2-billion in advance of the target. →

SA armoured vehicles to make N.American debut

18th April 2002 The first RG-12 multipurpose armoured vehicle, manufactured by Vickers OMC in Benoni, on the East Rand, will soon begin operating in North America. →

SA's submariners glimpse their future

By: Keith Campbell 12th April 2002 RECENTLY, for the first time, South Africans got a chance to see what the country’s three new Type 209/1400MOD submarines, currently under construction in Germany, will look like. →

SA helps boost EU aircraft maker

10th April 2002 European aircraft maker Airbus SAS said that this year it expects to share about 400 to 500 commercial jet orders with rival Boeing as airlines rebound from the September 11 attacks. →

12 more Hawks definitely on the way

By: Terence Creamer 9th April 2002 Cabinet has confirmed its commitment to proceed with the second procurement tranche in its multibillion-rand arms re-equipping programme, Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin revealed yesterday. →

Brazil's approach to defence offsets

By: Keith Campbell 29th March 2002 The article summarises Brazilian Air Force policy concerning offsets. →

Malawi airline privatisation advances

By: Marcel Chimwala 29th March 2002 MALAWI – Plans to privatise Malawi's sole airline, state-owned Air Malawi, are at an advanced stage. →

UK disapproval over Tanzania air-traffic system

25th March 2002 The UK has delayed payment of →

Defence agency and bank in move to support small business

15th March 2002 South African defence procurement agency Armscor and the People’s Bank joined forces yesterday by signing a facilitation agreement which will assist black economic empowerment (BEE) within the defence-related industry. →

SA airliner orders 500 engines

11th March 2002 The global aerospace, marine and energy company, Rolls-Royce announced an order for Trent 500 engines from South African Airways (SAA) as the airline unveiled its fleet renewal programme in Johannesburg. →

'Privatising aero-engine firm will boost SA'

By: Keith Campbell 8th March 2002 THE South African decision to sell a 51% stake in aero-engine company Denel Airmotive to France’s Turbomeca (part of the Snecma group) will lead to the growth of the South African operation. →

Laser designators for attack helicopter's sighting system

8th March 2002 The past three years have been marked with hectic activity at Eloptro as the Kempton Park-based electro-optical company worked to deliver 12 laser designator’s for integration into the sighting systems of the South African Airforce’s Rooivalk Attack Helicopters. →

Metrology lab recalibrates measurement focus

By: Deborah Spicer 1st March 2002 A dedicated industrial-measurements facility at CSIR’s National Metrology Laboratory (NML) is growing its measurement business, which had catered primarily for the automotive and aviation industries in the past. →

Rooivalk cooler than ever

1st March 2002 Close work between Booyco Engineering and Denel Aviation on the design of the environmental control system (ECS) for the Rooivalk Helicopter has resulted in a system, which meets stringent design requirements for this application, reports Booyco Engineering MD Jeremy Pougnet. →

Aircraft engine displays new tech

By: Keith Campbell 1st March 2002 The new General Electric GE 90 large turbofan, developed for the Boeing 777, incorporates various new technologies as well as others proven on the CF 6 and CFM 56 turbofans. →

Offset promise for SAA aero engines

By: Keith Campbell 1st March 2002 US industrial conglomerate GE is already set up to provide offsets for this country should South African Airways decide to equip their planned new wide-body airliners with GE90 turbofan engines. →