| Defence offsets and
the South African Aerospace Industry Abstract |
|
Gillian McEwan |
| This paper will focus
on the current situation the South African Aerospace Industry finds itself
in, with regards to the Strategic Defence Package. Recently Denel Aerospace
has undergone significant changes in an attempt to move away from being
a supplier of local components, to a more internationally orientated process.
By and large this is a direct result of South Africa's arm's procurement package, which has seen BAE Systems taking a 30% share in the company. There will be an in-depth discussion of BAE Systems (Britain) and Saab (Sweden), jointly providing a large Industrial Participation Package to South Africa, in return for the country's purchase of Hawk and Gripen Aircraft. The paper will analyse to what extent Denel's involvement with BAE Systems has benefited the local aerospace industry, with regard to defence offsets. It will also incorporate an argument based on studies by Christopher Wrigley, who maintains that arms sales by large Western defence companies to developing countries is often more problematic than originally anticipated. |