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Satellite halo lets Africa dial the wor... For whom the Gauteng roads tol... IMF expects staid growth in S... Armscor irked by display of fighter plan... |
Armscor irked by display of fighter planes
AVIATION INDUSTRY
A ROW has broken out between Armscor and the organisers of the Aerospace Africa '98 airshow over the display of foreign military aircraft. The show, scheduled to start at the Waterkloof air force base next week, would have featured at least two of the fighters being offered to the South African Air Force - the Swedish-built Gripen and France's Mirage 2000. The Mirage is already in the country, undergoing trials at the SAAF's base near Louis Trichardt. SAAB, makers of the Gripen, marketed by British Aerospace (BAe), planned to ship two of its fighters to SA from Chile where they were participating in an airshow, BAe spokesman Linden Birns said. They are now unlikely to appear. Central to the row, according to sources, is that Armscor believes the Aerospace Africa show will detract from its Defence Exhibition SA (DEXSA) airshow in November if the manufacturers display their wares next week. "If the aircraft are displayed in SA this month, there is little if any chance of their being brought back, at huge cost, seven months later," one source said Armscor, when it realised Aerospace Africa's show would be demonstrating military, as well as civilian aircraft, and thus stealing much of its DEXSA thunder, asked the government to ban the display of fighters at next week's show. Show organiser Peter Piggott, of the Civil Aviation Association of SA, which has staged Aerospace Africa since 1975, confirmed this week that "there was a problem", but declined to elaborate. Armscor said this week it had been decided that the two shows would be combined, but this could not be achieved in 1998. It said that in order not to duplicate matters, it was understood that the Aerospace Africa exhibition would be a civilian show while Dexsa would be a military show. Aerospace Africa organisers deny that there was any such understanding. However, some exhibitors are less than pleased. "We were invited months ago and planned accordingly. "Now, however, we are no longer welcome," an exhibitor said. But they dare not queer their pitch with Armscor - who ultimately is the customer for their wares. Representatives from Dassault - manufacturers of the Mirage 2000 - in SA this week, could not be reached as to whether their fighter would go on display at the Aerospace show. Aerospace Africa will feature 150 manufacturers from 21 different countries with delegations expected from, among others, Russia, Canada, France, Pakistan, Italy and the UK.
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