South Africa is expected to announce the winning contractors for the first phase of an estimated R30 billion ($5 billion)-worth of arms purchases by the end of the month, according to Alec Erwin, South African trade and industry minister.
South Africa plans to purchase a wide variety of armaments, including light fighters, fighter trainers, light utility helicopters, corvettes and submarines.
Local industry sources believe that the procurement will be announced in two phases, with the first batch covering corvettes, light utility helicopters and lead-in fighter trainers.
Among the shortlisted aircraft which fulfil a requirement for 24 lead-in fighter trainers are the British Aerospace Hawk, Aero Vodochody L-159, Aermacchi MB339 and the Italian/Russian Yak AEM.
The two leading contenders to meet a requirement for up to 38 fighters are widely seen as the Saab/BAe Gripen and the Dassault Mirage 2000.
The bidders for a requirement of between 40 and 60 light helicopters are Agusta, with the A109, Bell, offering the 427 and Eurocopter, with its EC135, all seen as fairly equal contenders.
Funding difficulties have caused the South African Government to drop some requirements - the purchase of main battle tanks is believed to be the most vulnerable. Armscor, the state arms procurement agency, has said that the whole purchase package would generate R50 billion-worth of industrial participation and investment in the economy by the winning contractors.
Erwin's statement that the decision could be made public by the end of the month took many in the industry and Ministry of Defence by surprise. The defence minister Joe Modise has been out of the country and the MoD is believed to have wanted to save the announcements for the local DEXSA '98 defence show, which will start on 16 November.
Source: Flight International
