South Africa positions itself as a local defence supply partner in Turkey

Umkhonto-IR missile. (Photo: Denel Dynamics)

May 10, 2011 defpro.com

South Africa is exploring joint collaborative programmes in Turkey says Jan Wessels, the CEO of Denel Dynamics. The missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS) business is an exhibitor at this year’s International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF), being held in Instanbul, Turkey from 10 – 13 May 2011. The South African company is not treating Turkey as a ‘market’ for selling products; the country is considered more for a partnering opportunity on future collaboration projects. “Turkey has an advanced defence industry with ambitious national industrial development goals - similar to South Africa. It makes sense for us to strengthen relationships between the two nations and find win-win cooperation opportunities,” says Wessels. Both South Africa and Turkey are members of the G20 group of progressive developing nations.

“South Africa has a comparably small but highly agile missile and UAV design, production and maintenance capability, anchored around a very strong engineering ‘hub’ in Denel Dynamics,” says Wessels. Looking forward, the innovative technologies in the A-Darter and Umkhonto missiles provide the South African business with the confidence that they can add value to Turkish air defence missile programmes through partnerships. The A-Darter joint collaboration project between the governments of Brazil and South Africa is a high profile example of what can be achieved between the industries of two politically aligned, advanced developing nations. “South Africa and Turkey can do the same,” says Wessels.

“South Africa’s engineering core has been developed and honed for over 30 years through Denel Dynamics, which has resulted in one of the best globally competitive teams in our field. Two specific highlights for 2010 were the highly successful introduction into service of the South African Umkhonto vertical launched surface-to-air missile system by the Finnish Navy, a NATO member, and the equally successful completion of integration and certification of the A-Darter 5th generation air-air missile from the Gripen fighters of the South African Air Force.

UMKHONTO SPEARHEADS SA’S REACH INTO NEW MARKETS

South Africa’s recent upgrade of its Umkhonto surface-to-air missile (SAM) to a Block 2 version featuring much enhanced ‘clutter’ performance, has highlighted Denel Dynamics’ system into new prominence in the international market.

Umkhonto can now comfortably be applied to Ground Based Air Defence Systems (GBADS), naval launch platforms and even against surface targets (surface-air-surface capability). Denel Dynamic’s innovative solution to a clutter background requirement from an international client dramatically enhanced Umkhonto to function in a multi-platform role for both air and surface targets. It has been operationally proven in challenging, high-clutter background environments including littoral water and land warfare scenarios.

“Now that the missile’s range, all weather options and rejection of ECM have been extended, Umkhonto is still the best choice for any navy and we are proud to have the Block 2 for land application as well,” said Machiel Oberholzer, Executive Manager Air Defence at Denel Dynamics. The upgrade also enables easy integration with different radar and platform solutions in network centric applications.

A-DARTER MISSILE CLEARANCE ON GRIPEN AIRCRAFT

The first A-Darter 5th generation short range air-to-air missile, designed to meet the challenges of future air combat, was successfully launched from a South African Air Force Saab Gripen fighter jet on 17 June 2010. Since then, all the required firings have taken place and clearance for the full carriage and firing envelopes of Gripen has been achieved. After an extensive ground test series of campaigns, these clearance launches from the air are highly significant in A-Darter’s developmental cycle as an air-air missile for the joint missile development programme between South Africa and Brazil. The Saab Project Manager for the integration test campaigns of A-Darter, Magnus Reineholm, was recently quoted as saying: “The A-Darter and the Gripen aircraft have worked beyond our expectations and we are extremely pleased with the test firing results.”

The missile development programme is due for completion in 2012. Only a hand-full of countries in the world are capable of developing missiles in this class. The relationship with the Brazilian Air Force and Brazilian Industry on the Development Programme has strengthened the ties between the two countries and may lead to more cooperation opportunities. The initial fighter aircraft for integration are the Hawk and Gripen for the South African Air Force, and the F-5BR for the Brazilian Air Force. Significant export opportunities exist for this product into further markets.

During May 2010, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Lindiwe Sisulu announced to the South African Government National Assembly that A-Darter was “a very important project of the Department of Defence (DoD)”. The Minister highlighted that, “this programme is set to become a model for cooperation and joint development by South Africa and other nations.”

EMERGING MARKETS ARE THE FUTURE

For advanced developing countries including Turkey and South Africa, emerging markets are the future. IDEF will showcase the significant progress that has been made in terms of indigenous technological and industrial development in Turkey, and why Denel Dynamics strategy towards co-operation in Turkey is a sound one.