DEFENCE Industrial Participation (Dip) contracts and subcontracts worth $830-million, and National Industrial Participation (Nip) contracts valued at some $3-billion, have been placed with South African companies by BAE Systems, of the UK, and Saab, of Sweden, Engineering News can report. 

The two companies are providing a $2,2-billion joint package to the South African Air Force (SAAF) of 28 Saab Gripen advanced light fighters and 24 BAE Hawk 100 lead-in fighter trainers (LIFTs). 

“So we have already reached 55 % of our Dip target and some 40 % of our Nip, assuming all these projects reach their hoped-for value,” reports BAE-Saab South African Spokesman Linden Birns. 

These Dip and Nip programmes will run for 7 to 11 years respectively and, should any fall short of expectations, the UK-Swedish partners would have to launch additional projects.

“South African companies are already supplying  components for the third production batch of Gripens for the Swedish Air Force,” adds Birns. 

Comau -AIMS, a subcontractor for Denel, has so far delivered seven external stores pylons for the Gripen, out of an initial batch of 26 for trial purposes. 

“The test programme is on track and the whole programme should be complete by the end of the year,” he reveals.  Denel itself is getting ready to assemble Gripen main undercarriage units. 

Grintek Communications Systems is providing audio-management and communications-management systems for the advanced fighter.  With regard to the Hawk, Denel has so far delivered four sets of Hawk tailplanes for the Hawk T1 remanufacturing programme for Britain’s Royal Air Force. 

AMS is manufacturing health-and-usage monitors, cockpit voice recorders, flight data recorders, and engine life recorders for the Hawk 100 for the Nato flying training scheme in Canada, the Hawk lead-in fighter for the Royal Australian Air Force and, in due course, the Hawk LIFT for the SAAF.  For the SAAF’s Hawk LIFT, ATE has been contracted to supply the navigation and weapons suite, and to integrate the new SAAF-specific cockpit. 

ATE has, in turn, awarded ‘sub-subcontracts’ to companies such as Tellumat and Sextant, for components such as flat panel displays.  In terms of indirect Dip, Denel has started delivering tooling for the manufacture of components for the Eurofighter Typhoon to BAE in the UK.  

Also indirect Dip from Denel are components for the BAE Avro RJ and RJ-X regional jetliners.

With acknowledgement to Keith Campbell and Engineering News.