Brazil, South Africa Plan Defense Industry Merger

Brazil and South Africa may merge their defence research bases to jointly conquer world markets.

In Brazil to attend the III IDB-Brazil Show, Trevor Raman, the Director-General of the Armaments Corporation of South Africa (Armscor), a public company linked to the Department of Defense of South Africa, recalled the partnership between the two countries in the development of technology for creating the A-Darter air-to-air missile. In his opinion, even before the success of the venture, the next step is to strengthen cooperation and seek to manufacture products that are competitive on the world market.

"This project was challenging for both countries because it showed us how far we can reach. Now, we need to unite our technological and research bases to be able to insert this and other products on the market, not only for Brazil and Africa, but for the rest of the world," he said.

During the "Brazil-South Africa: Partnership Opportunities for Technological Development" lecture, the director of Armscor highlighted the importance of such cooperation.

"When you develop complex products, you must understand that it is impossible to do everything yourself. So it is important that two countries with good capabilities can join and become complementary to each other, and so become stronger," he said.

The head of the Department of Industrial Technology of the Ministry of Defence, General Aderico Mattioli, pointed out that, in recent years, the sector of technological innovation in South Africa, as in Brazil, is growing strongly. However, the two countries face some difficulty in turning into marketable products the technologies developed in academia, since developed countries tend to dominate the sector, and leave no space to others.

Therefore, says Gen. Mattioli, it is important to foster such cooperation with South Africa, so that technological innovation can walk in step with productivity.

"It's very difficult to put skills acquired from the market. To break into the space occupied by the developed countries, we have to be competitive, which is only possible with innovation and scale of production. Together, we can get it done, "he said.