Milkor signs French and European defence deals as industry chases R70bn export target

South African defence manufacturer Milkor has signed a memorandum of understanding with Safran, the French high-technology group, and extended a collaboration with European missile maker MBDA, as the local industry sets its sights on lifting annual exports from just over R10 billion to R70 billion within five years.

As the Mail & Guardian reported on 23 September 2026, the deals were announced around the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) 2026 expo, the 13th edition of the five-day show, which closed on Sunday at Waterkloof Air Force Base.

Milkor’s vice president for Africa, Daniel du Plessis, said the expo had been a landmark event for the sector. He said the whole South African defence industry had exported in excess of R10 billion of equipment to other countries last year, and that a strategy gathering held before the show had focused on strengthening collaboration with government to reach the R70 billion figure within the next five-year cycle.

“I firmly believe that we are able to achieve the targets,” Du Plessis said.

For a South African reader, the numbers are worth putting in context. A jump from just over R10 billion to R70 billion would mean roughly seven times the current export value. The target is an industry and government aspiration, not a signed contract, and the source material does not set out a year-by-year path to it.

What the AAD deals do show is the direction of travel. The Safran MOU links Milkor to a group with operations in aviation, defence and space, and with capabilities in electronic warfare and systems integration. The MBDA collaboration connects it to a European designer and builder of missiles and systems.

Milkor’s flagship product, the Milkor 380, is a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicle designed, developed and manufactured in South Africa. It is described as the largest drone developed and manufactured on the African continent, built primarily for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and precision strike missions.

Du Plessis said the company had launched new products and new vehicles at the show and had shifted its focus to refining products for operational use, some of which have now been operationally deployed. He said the company had used its two stands to show solutions across air, land, sea and cyber domains, with a focus on landward systems including the recently launched Milkor BushCat.

The latest BushCat variant has been earmarked for the South African National Defence Force after a competitive bidding process and tender, Du Plessis said. It was selected by Armscor, the state’s defence acquisition agency, and the SANDF to be implemented on border patrol operations in line with the Border Improvement Plan.

That selection matters beyond the balance sheet. Border patrol work places the vehicle directly in the state’s efforts to police South Africa’s landward boundaries, a task that has been a standing pressure point for the SANDF and for the Department of Home Affairs.

Du Plessis said African delegations had attended in force despite the African Union meeting taking place in Burundi the same week, and that discussions had covered the security and defence challenges facing the continent. He said there had also been strong international participation from industry and from defence forces.

His pitch to the sector was blunt. “We have some significant skills in this country and we shouldn’t stand back and think that we are less than or not able to compete on a global stage,” he said. He argued that South Africa should pursue international cooperation and leverage the skills it has to generate further technological advancement.

Milkor was a diamond sponsor of the expo for the fourth consecutive edition. The show itself drew thousands to Waterkloof for displays spanning air, ground, cyber, maritime and space capabilities by state-owned and private aerospace and defence technology firms.

The South African defence industry has long been one of the country’s more sophisticated manufacturing sectors, built on decades of state investment in Armscor and Denel and on a base of engineering skills that survived the sector’s post-1994 restructuring. Its export performance is closely watched because defence manufacturing supports high-skill jobs and because Armscor’s procurement decisions shape what the SANDF can actually field.

The source material does not say how much of the R10 billion in exports came from Milkor specifically, nor does it detail the value or scope of the Safran and MBDA agreements. Those details are not yet public.

Source: Mail & Guardian, Local defence industry set for a boom in exports