| Denel
in talks to partner with Brazil’s Embraer
on military transport project
(portuguese text)
Keith
Campbell
DEFESA@NET Correspondent
in Pretoria
State-owned defence
industrial group DENEL CEO Shaun
Liebenberg has revealed that the company
is engaged in discussions with Brazilian aircraft
manufacturer Embraer for risk-sharing partnership
in EMBRAER’s new military transport aircraft
project, the
C-390.
The discussions
involve the DENEL group, DENEL’s subsidiary
company, DENEL SAAB Aerostructures and the Swedish
SAAB group. (DENEl SAAB Aerostructures is currently
80% owned by DENEL with the remaining 20% held by
SAAB.)
These three companies
are acting as a team in the discussions with the
Brazilian group.
EMBRAER’s
business model is to usually develop aircraft on
the basis of international risk sharing partnerships.
The Brazilian company does the overall design and
integration and final assembly of the aircraft.
Risk sharing partners
do detailed design and manufacture of many elements
and components of the aircraft, including major
components.
This model has been
successfully applied to EMBRAER’s outstandingly
successful regional jet airliner programs, namely
the ERJ145 and EMB170-190 families.
The C390 will be
produced following the same model.
Because DENEL SAAB
Aerostructures would be risk-sharing partner, the
South African government would not be obliged to
buy any C-390s.
In this, the program
would differ from DENEL’s partnership in the
Airbus A400M
military transport aircraft program.
The South African group was only able to join the
Airbus Military program because the South African
government ordered eight A400M aircraft for the
country’s Air Force.
Meanwhile, Liebenberg
has stated that his group and the South African
government were pushing Saab to exercise its option
to take a majority shareholding in DENEL SAAB Aerostructures.
SAAB can increase
its current 20% holding to 51% and subsequently
to 70%.
SAAB already has
the management contract for DENEL SAAB Aerostructures.
| DEFESA@NET
- Other current joint project South Africa -
Brazil is the AAM
A-Darter missile with DENEL
and Brazilian MECTRON and FAB CTA. |
|
Shaun
Liebemberg DENEL´s CEO announced that
South African comapny could be risk-sharing
partnership on
C-390 Program |
|
