Senior Business Writer

About 150 new investments and manufacturing, skills development, and technology transfer projects in SA's aerospace, defence and civil industries have been created through offsets from the purchase of fighter and training jets in the much maligned arms deal.

BAE Systems and Saab, the contractor and its partner, respectively, that are supplying 24 Hawk and 26 Gripen aircraft, said they were on target to meet the $8,7bn arms offset component of their part of the deal.

Examples of industrial participation projects included the manufacture of Hawk tailplanes, airbrakes and flaps, the final assembly of Hawk aircraft, and the manufacture of Gripen centre and rear fuselage subassemblies and stores, with local arms maker Denel.

They also included the production of Eurofighter-Typhoon components, manufacture of Airbus airwing components and the design, development, production and integration of Hawk navigation and weapons systems.

Other projects include the design and production of the Hawk health usage monitoring system, cockpit voice recorders, digital flight data recorders and engine life recorders with Saab-Grintek Avitronics.

Another participation project involved the design and development of helmet tracking systems for the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Gripen with Carl Zeis Optronics.

In the civil industrial market, participation projects included constructing a new factory for Dunlop Tyres in Durban, the turnaround of former Mondi Sabie timber plantations, and the establishment of SA's first platinum jewellery factory in Cape Town.

Other projects included participation in the construction of a ferrochrome plant at Buffelsfontein, funding for research into new gold refining processes, the establishment of a new gold refinery at Virginia in the Free State, and starting a gold loan scheme for jewelers with AngloGold Ashanti.

Offset projects included aiding the establishment of a dental prosthetics manufacturing facility near Johannesburg, financing for the acquisition of a floating dry dock at Durban and involvement in the export of locally manufactured electricity transformers to the US.

Included in the offsets were Saab's acquisition of Grintek and investment in Denel Aerostructures, and BAE Systems' acquisition of Alvis-OMC and Gear Ratio (Land Systems SA).

With acknowledgements to Edward West and Business Day.