The agreement also comes as South Africa seeks to strengthen its defence manufacturing base.
According to Milkor Africa vice-president Daniel du Plessis, the partnership focuses on improving surveillance, targeting, and navigation capabilities. Picture: Supplied.
South African defence manufacturer Milkor has signed a partnership with French aerospace group Safran Electronics & Defence to explore upgrades for its unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones.
But the agreement has raised questions about technology transfer, localisation, and how much South Africa’s defence industry will benefit from the collaboration.
MOU
The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore integrating Safran’s optronics and navigation systems into the Milkor 380 UAV and future platforms, including the planned Milkor 780.
According to Milkor Africa vice-president Daniel du Plessis, the partnership focuses on improving surveillance, targeting, and navigation capabilities.
“Safran’s EUROFLIR optronics payloads can give the platform sharper, longer-range day and night surveillance and targeting capability, while Safran’s navigation expertise can improve positioning accuracy and keep the aircraft operating reliably even where GNSS signals are jammed or unavailable,” he said.
Upgrades
The proposed upgrades aim to improve the aircraft’s ability to operate in contested environments where satellite navigation signals are disrupted or deliberately jammed.
Du Plessis said Milkor has spent the past seven years building the capability to manufacture the Milkor 380 and its subcomponents in-house while ensuring the platform can accommodate sensors and payloads from multiple suppliers.
“The partnership with Safran Electronics and Defence will expose South African engineers to some of the leading technologies Europe has to offer and create opportunities for the two entities to work together,” he said.
Tech agreements
However, Milkor has not announced any formal technology-transfer agreements, local production targets, or commitments to localise the advanced systems Safran would supply.
The partnership comes as the global UAV market grows more competitive, with manufacturers facing export restrictions, regulatory requirements, and growing scrutiny over the use of unmanned systems.
Middle East
Du Plessis said the Milkor 380 is already operating in the Middle East and that the company is moving towards full-scale production while developing additional UAV systems.
The agreement also comes as South Africa seeks to strengthen its defence manufacturing base.
Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga recently indicated that government is developing a defence industry policy as part of the national industrial policy action plan and is pursuing greater collaboration with the private sector to develop strategic capabilities.
Securing borders
At the same time, security agencies are increasingly relying on technology to secure the country’s borders.
The Border Management Authority (BMA) has been expanding its use of surveillance and detection systems to combat illegal migration, smuggling, and cross-border crime, highlighting growing demand for advanced aerial monitoring platforms.
