South African light sports aircraft manufacturer Bat Hawk Aircraft has credited South Africa’s membership of the Brics group as helping it win a major export order. Brics is the acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The company is based in Nelspruit in Mpumalanga province.

“While our biggest aircraft importer in the continent is the Democratic Republic of Congo, followed by Botswana and Mozambique, we do export outside the continent as well,” explained Bat Hawk MD Terry Pappas. “We have footprints in the US and Australia. But our major breakthrough in the past five years has been with the Brics.”

Bat Hawk Aircraft has designed and manufactures the Bat Hawk two-seat, dual-control, light sports aircraft, for sporting but also training, surveillance and conservation purposes. Its seats are arranged side-by-side. It is a high-wing monoplane design, using conventional control systems – rudder, elevators, and flapperons (combined flaps and ailerons). Its single engine is mounted centrally on the wing leading edge, above and ahead of the pilots. The aircraft is specifically designed for African conditions.

No less than 80% of the material used in the manufacture of a Bat Hawk is sourced in South Africa. The remaining 20% comes from Austria, France and the US. The company employs 18 people and operates from two locations in Nelspruit.

The first, albeit small, export order from another Brics country followed the company’s participation in 2015 in an Outward Selling Mission (OSM) organised by South Africa’s Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC). That mission went to China and led to four Bat Hawk aircraft being exported there, basically for trial purposes.

“Our biggest break came in 2019 while we were on another OSM, to India, with the DTIC,” he reported. “We were able to secure a partnership and sign a contract to supply 200 Bat Hawk aircraft to Max-Link Adventure Sports Club that will see both companies benefit from the partnership. The partnership and export contract, which is valued at R50-million, will create over 100 jobs in India once the factory that we will be setting up there has been completed. The less labour-intensive components of the aircraft, that require specialised equipment, will be manufactured in South Africa, while the labour-intensive work will be done in India. Both countries have specialised skills and labour force to make the partnership a reality.”

The first two aircraft in this programme were both entirely assembled in South Africa and then shipped to India to act as prototypes for the factory there. They were sent to India “a few weeks ago”.

Bat Hawks, sponsored by mining house Anglo American Platinum, are currently being used for anti-rhino poaching surveillance patrols by South African National Parks. But the home market accounts for only about 7% of the company’s production, which last year came to more than 30 aircraft – a quantity that Pappas described as “very good”.

“We might in the future embark on a scope mission to Brazil to assess how we can enter that market and form partnerships with other companies there,” he stated. “Brazil has amazing aircraft builders that produce magnificent planes. They certainly do have the capability to supply other markets, but we also want to benefit from their expertise.”