Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

The South African government signed a military aircraft deal with European aircraft manufacturer Airbus in Pretoria on Wednesday. The country will participate in the building and design of Airbus' new A400M military transport aircraft.

The agreement states that as the program matures between 2010 and 2014, South Africa would be allowed to take delivery of between eight and 14 planes. Eight aircraft would cost 837 million euros (about 1.1 billion US dollars).

The A400M, which would ultimately replace the SA National Defense Force's aging C130 transport fleet, is set to be in full production by 2009.

Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said that participating in the program would boost and revitalize the local aerospace industry.

"At this stage it's difficult to say exactly by how much the country will benefit but the ball park figure will be between 6 billion rand and 15 billion rand (about 2.62 billion US dollars)."

Defense Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said the acquisition of the aircraft would greatly benefit not only South Africa but the whole African continent.

He said the country had a large role to play in peace support initiatives and disaster management, which was costing "huge money " because flights had to be chartered.

"This deal will go a long way to equip our forces in the region, " he said.

The SANDF's current military transport and airlift capacity is carried by a small fleet of nine Hercules C130 aircraft which are due to be replaced by about 2010.

The deal was described as not only being of military value but also economic.

Francisco Fernandez Saintz, managing director of Airbus Military, said the company had already confirmed orders for 180 aircraft to be built -- a process in which South Africa would be completely involved.

Richard Thompson, senior vice president, commercial, said South Africa had become a global partner in a "benchmark program" which would see new military aircraft designed and built through a non- military process that would incorporate cutting-edge technology.

Local companies Denel and Aerosud have been named contributors because of their existing experience and capability in aircraft manufacture, but Thompson said that as the process moved forward more companies would be contracted.

"The C130s lasted for 50 years. There is no reason why the production life of the new planes won't be as long," he said, explaining that South Africa would be a partner for life.