S.A. to build more airfields, warships

Press, 13 April 1984, Page 8

S.A. to build more airfields, warships

NZPA-Reuter Cape Town

The South African Government said yesterday that it was strengthening its air and sea defences by building new airfields and more warships. Two weeks ago the Budget boosted military spending more than 20 per cent despite recent accords with the country's previously hostile African neighbours and an easing of tension in southern Africa.

In a White Paper on defence and armaments supply tabled in Parliament yesterday, the Government said that a “main fighter base” was being built in the Northern Transvaal near the Zimbabwean border.

A “forward airfield programme” in the Transvaal and Natal had just been

completed, while road-run-ways — widened roads which can be closed to vehicles and used by the heaviest transport planes — were also being built for the sake of economy. The Navy commissioned two more locally-built missile strike vessels last year and has ordered another. According to “Jane’s Fighting Ships” South Africa had eight missile strike craft last year. The Government says that it plans to increase defence spending this year 21.4 per cent to 3.76 billion rand ($4.56 billion), about 15 per cent of all Government spending. Export of arms to South Africa was banned by the United Nations in 1977 because of apartheid. The White Paper said

that getting spares for sophisticated Air Force equipment was a serious problem, but a comprehensive local manufacturing plan was producing good results. Since 1977 the State Arms Manufacturing and Procurement Body (Armscor) had increasingly succeeded with bypassing the embargo, but South Africa still had problems with items such as ships, submarines, and aircraft.

Its strike craft were meeting only some of the Navy’s needs and the White Paper said: “The development and establishment of a local shipbuilding industry for naval vessels is an important objective in the pursuit of national self-suffi-ciency/*