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[Brasileiro]

Brazil interest in SA missile technology

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Keith Campbell


South African defence company Kentron, part of the State-owned Denel group, has encountered a ³definite receptivity² towards its products from the Brazilian armed forces, and discussions are continuing on a number of systems.

Engineering News has already reported on the serious interest of the Brazilian Navy in the Umkhonto naval surface-to-air missile and of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) in the R-Darter beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, both manufactured by Kentron.

The Brazilian Army has also had a look at two other missiles in the company stable, the Ingwe and Mokopa anti-tank guided weapons (ATGWs).

The Ingwe can be launched from a simple tripod on the ground, or a light 4*4 vehicle, or a heavy armoured fighting vehicle (AFV), whereas the Mokopa is intended to be fired from a helicopter ­ it will be the primary weapon for the Denel Aviation Rooivalk attack helicopter.

Brazilian interest in the Mokopa is still very preliminary because, although the Brazilian Army Aviation operates armed helicopters, it has no attack helicopters yet, nor any formal programme to acquire any.

It is believed that there is more serious interest in the Ingwe.

Certainly, one of the versions of the Brazilian Army¹s projected 4*4 light AFVs would be armed with ATGWs (Alvis OMC of South Africa, part of the Alvis group of the UK, is one of the companies interested in this programme ­ see Engineering News May 30, 2003).

It is possible that they would also want an ATGW-armed version of their planned 6*6 or 8*8 AFVs as well (a formal decision has yet to be made).

Interestingly ­ and suggestively ­ the South African Army has a similar programme for acquiring 6x6 or 8x8 AFVs in roughly a similar time frame as its Brazilian counterpart.

Other Kentron products of possible interest to the Brazilian armed forces are the Skua high-speed target drone, various precision guided munitions for the FAB and possibly the Brazilian Naval Aviation, and the Kenis imaging infrared camera and Arachnida weapons-management system, for modernised Cascavel armoured cars of the army.

With the second-biggest defence budget in the Americas, after the US, Brazil is a potentially important market for a company such as Kentron. Of course, Brazil trails very far behind the US in terms of defence spending, but it also stands far ahead of South Africa.

Although comparisons of defence spending between countries are not amenable to straightforward comparisons ­ do the figures include salaries, pensions, defence research and development, or not? Are the funds allocated by the national treasury the only source of income for the armed forces? (The answers vary from country to country) ­ it is probable that Brazil¹s defence budget is about eight times larger than South Africa¹s.

However, these days it is not just a matter of selling your defence system to another country. The customer usually wants some kind of industrial participation in the programme. Kentron fully recognises this, and has proposals ready for discussion with Brazil.

These proposals vary with regard to the system concerned, the number to be bought ­ should their acquisition be decided on ­ and their degree of development to date. They range from strategic industrial partnership, co-production, part production, systems integration, down to maintenance and logistical support.

Selling defence systems is (except when the client has an emergency) a slow, painstaking process, usually taking years ­ witness the time taken with South Africa¹s own strategic re-equipment programmes. But it is clear that the Brazilians are very seriously interested in strengthening cooperation with South Africa, including in the fields of defence and defence industries, clearly signalled by last week¹s visit to this country by the Brazilian defence minister and a high-powered aerospace and defence industry delegation.


Brazil defence export drive could benefit South Africa
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Keith Campbell






Decisions being made in Brazil could have benefits for the South African defence industry, as well as make new technologies available to the South African National Defence Force.

The Brazilian business magazine IstoÉ Dinheiro reports that the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is developing a package of measures to promote defence exports, currently running at some $300-million a year, with the aim of increasing them to around $1-billion a year, a level last achieved in the 1980s.

As reported in Engineering News last week (July 25, 2003), Brazil is eager to develop defence and defence industrial cooperation with South Africa, including the development of integrated systems using products from both countries, and an agreement providing the political framework for this was recently signed.

This obviously could create opportunities for the local industry.

For example, in the area of advanced systems integration the industries of the two countries appear to be completely complementary, for it seems that South Africa is ahead in tactical systems integration while Brazil leads in strategic systems integration.

Brazil´s original expertise in strategic systems integration stemmed from its Cindacta network, which was developed in four phases (Cindacta I to IV) over the past 20 years.

Cindacta is the Portuguese acronym for integrated air defence and air-traffic control, and combines air-traffic control with air defence in a single system under air force control, allowing dual use of radar systems, thus increasing efficiency and reducing costs.

This expertise has been further developed with the $1,4-billion Amazonian Surveillance System (Sivam), recently completed, which is an integrated surveillance system for the 5 000 000 km2 Brazilian Amazon, using military technology for both defence and civil uses, including air defence, air-traffic control, control of illegal activities, environmental monitoring and protection, and gathering data for sustained regional development.

Sivam, of which Cindacta IV is a part, is a unique system, and includes one central and three regional control centres, 19 fixed and six mobile ground-based radars, five airborne early warning and control aircraft and three side-looking airborne radar surveillance aircraft.

"We integrated Sivam, and we¹ve developed and deployed, fully operational throughtout Brazil, all the Cindactas," reveals Atech Tecnologias Críticas marketing and business development manager Zareh Balekjian.

"We´re also providing decision-making tools for police forces, using geographical information system tools, to help them make decisions on how to react to criminal activity," he reports. This system is already operational with a State police force in Brazil and negotiations are under way with three others.

"We understand that there are a number of suitable projects in the pipeline in South Africa, so creating the opportunity for cooperation between us and South African industry, bringing South African and Brazilian technology together to meet these needs," he suggests.

Some companies, of course, are already doing business with their South African counterparts. One such is the Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos (CBC ­ the Brazilian Cartridge Company).

CBC has two factories in Brazil, in the states of São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul, employs 1 100, and makes ammunition for pistols and revolvers (all calibres), .22 rifles, hunting rifles, and shotguns. In the military field, it produces 5,56 mm, 7,62 mm, 12,7 mm, 20 mm, and 30 mm rounds, in a variety of types in each case. It also manufactures some rifles and shotguns.

"We are a very integrated plant, for example producing our own gunpowder and primers, we export between 60% and 70% of our product, and we are very active in Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Australasia and parts of Africa, and we own our own distribution company in the US," sums up CBC president Antonio Marcos Moraes Barros.

The company¹s products include Œgreen ammunition¹ ­ new bullets with new primers without heavy metals and with the lead in the bullet fully encapsulated, to reduce pollution and the health threat in indoor firing ranges ­ and a special hollow-point round for police use, with very great stopping power through very strong transfer of energy from the bullet to the target, without risk of the round
fragmenting. This police round has been adopted by a number of police forces in the US and Europe.

For some years now CBC has sourced components from two divisions of South African State-owned defence company Denel Ordnance ­ Pretoria Metal Pressings (PMP) and Somchem.

"We approached PMP some five or six years ago, to find what components they could supply to us, so reducing our costs and our cost of investment," reports Barros.

"As a result, we buy PMP links for our machine-gun ammunition belts, we buy ammunition components, and we sometimes buy other components when we are working at full capacity or when PMP provides a cost advantage," he reveals.

"PMP is very reliable with regard to cost, production and quality," he reports. Last year CBC made about $800 000-worth of purchases from PMP. CBC´s sales to South Africa average $100 000/y.
"We also buy double-base powder from Somchem ­ we make our own single-base powder," he adds.

All in all, the leading executives of the Brazilian aerospace and defence industry believe that there are great possibilities for cooperation.

³We have had great success in finding market niches, such as regional jets, and we look for such niches so as not to take the giant aerospace and defence companies head-on,² affirms Brazilian Aerospace Industries Association president Walter Bartels.

"We are very keen to have cooperation ­ we can have integrated programmes, or associative projects, or partnerships, or risk-sharing partnerships, or be subcontractors," he concludes.



SA, Brazil strengthen defence industrial ties
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Keith Campbell


Given the dramatic acceleration in political and economic ties between Brazil and South Africa, it should come as no surprise that this process also includes the strengthening of oper-ational, technological and industrial relations in the related fields of aerospace and defence.

Thus was made clear with the signing, early last month, of an agreement on defence cooperation between the two countries.

In terms of this agreement, Brazil and South Africa will promote cooperation in defence-related matters, especially research and development (R&D), acquisition and logistical support; exchange knowledge from lessons learnt with military exquipment, including from international peacekeeping operations; and exchange experience in scientific and technological areas.

Further, the agreement provides for combined military training, combined military exercises and exchange of information between the two countries; for collaboration in the procurement of military equipment; and cooperation in any other military fields that may be of mutual interest to both parties.

The agreement includes articles covering military cooperation, management of cooperation, financial arrangements ­ for example, each side shall bear its own costs ­ protection of information, liability and the settlement of claims, the settlement of disputes and amendments to the agreement.

"The Brazilian government has decided very much to develop defence cooperation with South Africa," said Brazilian Defence Minister José Viegas in Pretoria at the time.

Viegas was accompanied by a large and high-level delegation from the Brazilian aerospace and defence industry.

"I have no doubt that we share a lot of common perspectives and interests," he added.

"We should develop cooperation and joint ventures (JVs) and coordination in entering world markets," he stated.

"We are very open to the exchange of technical information and technical experiments to develop products that could be marketed internationally," he assured.

According to Brazilian sources, Viegas left this country with a very good impression of the local defence industrial and technological sector, and is both very interested and very enthusiastic about developing this relationship.

He is reported to believe that joint South African and Brazilian products ­ or, more likely, systems combining products from the two countries ­ would sell well and form a "good brand"(The agreement does not mark the start of defence cooperation between the two countries ­ for example, the Brazilian and South African navies have developed a very good relationship since 1995, through the usually biennial Atlasur exercises, involving the navies of Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, and Uruguay.) ³In the defence sector, governmental decisions are decisive with regard to developing international cooperation, and our government very strongly supports cooperation with South Africa,² reports Brazilian Aerospace Industries Association (AIAB) president Walter Bartels.

"In the recent past we¹ve had a lot of encouragement from our government to look for a greater, deeper, relationship with South Africa ­ the previous administration of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso defined the South-South relationship and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wants to strengthen it, and we believe in this," says Embraer director Claudio Moreira.
(Embraer is Brazil¹s leading aircraft manufacturer and is the world¹s fourth-largest maker of commercial jets, but it also has a significant military business with turboprop and jet trainers and attack aircraft and advanced surveillance aircraft.)

"Our industry is divided into three segments, namely aeronautics, defence and space ­ aeronautics includes the manufacture, maintenance and overhaul of civilian aircraft and their engines, defence the same but with regard to military aircraft, missiles and bombardment rockets; and space, the production of space rockets and their engines," elucidates Bartels.

The AIAB has 35 member companies, directly employing 15 000 people, with a combined income in 2001 of $3,4-billion, of which $3,1-billion was from exports.

Of this, some 95% was from the aviation sector, about 5% from defence, and less than 0,5% from space, this last almost entirely from Brazil¹s national space programme, which includes the development of satellite launch vehicles, sounding rockets, satellites and related ground segment facilities.
In addition to Embraer, Brazil has two other companies which design and manufacture aircraft, namely Neiva (owned by Embraer and specialising in light and agricultural aircraft), and Aeromot (motorised gliders ­ a recent customer was the US Air Force).

In addition there is Helibras, which is owned by the European group EADS and produces Eurocopter helicopters under licence.

Missiles and other guided weapons systems, rocket systems, bombs, multicalibre saturation rocket systems and smart munitions are produced by Avibras and Mectron. ³We have begun our relationship with South Africa this year. We¹re exchanging information with the South African Aerospace, Maritime and Defence Industries Association (AMD) and with this knowledge we can start thinking about cooperation, but already it is clear that we have complementarities between our industries and that there are good possibilities for cooperation,² he affirms.

"We have dominion of the technology we put in our aircraft, missiles and rockets, own technology, and we¹re not dependent on other countries for what we do,² he asserts.

Concerning complementarities with this country, ³the South African avionics sector is stronger than the Brazilian," cites Bartels.

"In our opinion, Brazil and South Africa have many synergies and we believe there is a possibility of creating some kind of agreement or partnership that could improve both our industries, not only in each country but also in third markets," argues Moreira.

"We are looking for cooperation, but Embraer¹s relationship with South Africa is not beginning now, as we have had a lot of contacts in the past, and we are currently delivering our ERJ-135 regional jets to SA Airlink," he adds.

Five ERJ-135s have already been delivered to Airlink, with another 15 on order.

From the air to the sea, and Brazil¹s Empresa Gerencial de Projetos Navais (Emgepron ­ Naval Projects Management Company), wholly owned by the Brazilian Navy, is also very interested in cooperation with South Africa, particularly the South African Navy (SAN).

"We believe that our experience could be of help to the SAN ­ after all, we¹re not all that far away," says Emgepron president Vice-Admiral Marcilio Boavista da Cunha.

"We could especially be of help with regard to the SAN¹s new Type 209 submarines now being built in Germany, as we build and operate exactly the same type, and we could help with training, maintenance and logistical support," he suggests.

"We already have such relationships with other South American countries, nearly all of which operate Type 209s, so why not with South Africa?" he argues.

Emgepron is involved in the design and construction of submarines, corvettes, training ships, patrol ships, river patrol ships, hospital ships, patrol boats, naval ammunition, moored and influence (magnetic, acoustic, pressure) sea mines, tactical control systems, electronic exercise systems, and training and simulation systems, as well as modernising and refitting these ships and systems and undertaking project management and systems development and integration for the Brazilian Navy.
Boavista also believes that South Africa¹s Institute for Maritime Technology and its larger Brazilian counterpart, the Instituto de Pesquisas da Marinha (Navy Research Institute) could work together in complementary ways.

This despite the fact that one of the few areas of overlap between the two countries "defence technological and industrial activities is in the area of tactical naval systems integration ­ what the SAN calls Œcombat suites)".





confira em: http://www.defesanet.com.br

[AleX_]

"Sem dúvida, a África do Sul vê o mercado brasileiro como extremamente promissor. A Kentron tem sido particularmente ativa e vem oferecendo, por exemplo, o míssil Umkhonto-IR, de lançamente vertical e guiagem IR, para a modernização do Navio-Aeródromo São Paulo, e também mísseis anticarro para o Exército Brasileiro. Além disso, o R-Darter, que já equipa os Atlas Cheetah da Força Aérea da África do Sul e será a principal arma dos Gripen sul-africanos, também está sendo oferecido à FAB."

Fonte: http://www.segurancaedefesa.com