SA Navy keeps industry afloat

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 30 Jan 2008

The SA Navy has spent close to R100 million in the last 18 months to ensure its ICT remains shipshape and combat-ready.

While much of the spend forms part of the billions paid for three new-generation submarines and four frigates, some of the investment is shore-side, meant to develop new technologies or to link ship to shore.

Major beneficiaries of the deals include the Reunert Group, the local Saab of Sweden subsidiary (previously Grintek), as well as African Defence Systems (ADS, owned by Thales of France) and Cybicom Atlas Defence, part of Germany's Atlas Elektronik.

Among the most recent contracts awarded by the state arms agency, Armscor, was a R3 140 350.87 deal, in November, to Saab Logtronics. The contract provided for the maintenance and support of "the internal communication technologies [of] the SA Navy".

Logtronics also has a R30 066 652 contract to maintain and support electronic warfare systems for the sea service and a R600 295 order for a ship communication and electronic warfare system for the frigates.

Cybicom has a R6.2 million deal to maintain and support underwater acoustic sensors (aka sonars) and a R9 297 712 contract to do the same for the action information systems of the submarine fleet.

ADS was awarded work worth R8 038 508 to re-establish an integrated test bench capability for the navy. It received a further R7 842 316 to procure spares for the frigate fleet's combat management system, combat team trainer, hull-mounted sonar and combat suite data bus.

Other deals

Tellumat is providing maintenance and support services for the Navy's microwave radio frequency (RF) systems worth R4 054 233. Logtronics and Dibetsa Advanced Engineering are awaiting word on a tender worth R1 313 880 to do the same for the Navy's RF data links.

Siemens is pocketing R8 462 304 to maintain and support electrical power and control systems, while Jasco got R363 225 to supply antennas, waveguides and related equipment.

Reutech Radar Systems received R9 947 321 to pay for spares for tracker systems fitted aboard the frigates and Marine Radio Acoustic Devices received R4 252 315 for an F-band BridgeMaster Navigation Radar for the frigates. Sysdel received a R174 000 contract extension to fit electronic support measures systems to the SA Air Force helicopters carried aboard the frigates.

Denel received a R331 000 contract to optimise the lock-on parameters "between a designation radar and missile", while the University of Cape Town received R613 700 to optimise missile tracking algorithms. Both contracts are thought to relate to Denel's Umkhonto surface-to-air missile system fitted to the frigates.

Armscor also benefited, with Armscor Business receiving R649 011 for a data capturing system on board submarine S102 and the Institute for Maritime Technology receiving R1 009 602 for unspecified scientific technology support services.