S African Council to collaborate with Indian defence industry

South African and Indian defence companies have identified several strategic areas of collaboration for mutual benefit, a South African official has said.

Following his visit to New Delhi, South African Aerospace Maritime and Defence Export Council (SAAMDEC) CEO Sandile Ndlovu said a successful breakthrough has been agreed upon to achieve this collaboration.

Ndlovu listed the proposed areas of collaboration between the South African and Indian defence industries as both small and medium calibre ammunition, landward weapons, artillery, cybersecurity, electronic warfare, unmanned aerial vehicles, robotics and artificial intelligence.

"From the South African defence industry side we are going to identify local companies that we will pair with Indian companies in the areas that we have identified," Ndlovu said.

"These companies will then identify specific areas within these broad topics, work on them and report back to us as the export council. the Indian defence industry is diametrically opposed or opposite to our industry. They are working at building their industry.

"In order to create opportunities for our industry back home we need to make use of the opportunities that are provided by India," he said.

Ndlovu was part of an Outward Selling Mission to India coordinated by the Department of Trade and Industry, which started a second leg in Mumbai on Thursday.

He said the mission's visits to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) showed how Indian industry had support of the government.

"All in all, the New Delhi leg of this mission has been quite successful as far as I'm concerned, because we managed to agree with our Indian counterparts that regarding procurement, they will share current opportunities with ourselves, so that our members can participate where there is a requirement.

"In some instances, they have already informed us of what the Indian army needs. It is up to our exporters to grab those opportunities," Ndlovu concluded.