South Africa Considers Buying Landing Ships

Three firms will likely compete if the government approves the South African National Defense Force’s proposal to buy one or more strategic support ships with an extended helicopter landing platform.

One potential bidder, France’s DCNS (formerly Amaris), recently brought its landing helicopter dock (LHD) FS Tonnerre (Thunder) to Cape Town on its maiden voyage via Canada and Brazil. The Tonnerre’s sister ship, FS Mistral, was used last year to evacuate foreigners during the crisis in Lebanon.

The other firms with “a real chance” to win the contract are Spain’s Navantia and Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), which co-built South Africa’s four recently commissioned frigates, said Helmoed-Römer Heitman, a South African military analyst.

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