Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

The South African government on Thursday signed a contract with the European aerospace consortium Airbus to participate in the design and manufacture of A400M, the world's most modern military transport aircraft.

The A400M airlifter program is expected to help revitalize South Africa's aerospace sector and the near-bankrupt state arms manufacturer Denel, according to a government statement and media reports on Thursday.

"The program (with Airbus Military) involves the design, development, manufacture and longer-term maintenance of the airframe for the A400M military transport," the government said, adding that eight such aircraft would be delivered to the country' s air force as the program matures between 2010 and 2014.

Defense Minister Mosiuoa Lekota signed the final contract in Pretoria on behalf of the South African government.

Airbus said the same engineers involved in the launch of the Airbus A380, the world's biggest airliner that successfully completed its maiden flight Wednesday in France, would be joined by a South African team for the design and specifications of the A400M.

"This confirmed the confidence placed in the program by countries outside the existing group of seven European launch nations," Airbus Military said in a statement.

The South African government has been developing a strategy for the long-term development and sustainability of the country's high technology aerospace sector since 2000.

"This initiative will see South Africa joining in at ground- level, delivering sustainable opportunities for export oriented industrial activity over the next 30 to 50 years," said the government.

The deal has been opposed by the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), which said it "looks set to be another costly mistake," according to a report of the SAPA news agency.

Pretoria said limited capability of military transport has prevented the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) from deploying personnel, resources and material into certain African peacekeeping operations.

But the DA argued that the deal created the impression that it was conceived more to rescue the money-losing Denel than because of the operational requirements of the South African Air Force, the SAPA said.

In December last year, Pretoria committed South Africa to buying up to 14 of the four-engined aircraft at about 778 million rand (128 million US dollars) each, in exchange for investment, technological knowledge and jobs.