Less than a month after announcing a 41% growth in revenue for the past financial year, the Denel Group is poised to reveal ground-breaking partnerships with leading global defence players at the upcoming AAD 2016 show in Pretoria.

One of these is with China's leading defence technology company and the African Aerospace and Defence trade and exhibition show will be the perfect backdrop for South Africa's top defence technology company, Denel.

Zwelakhe Ntshepe, the Acting Group CEO of Denel says the company will use AAD 2016, Africa’s largest defence and technology exhibition, to provide information on new developments that are in the pipeline.

“We have reached an exciting growth stage at Denel. Many of our research and development projects are resulting in tangible and marketable products and we will be signing new partnerships to promote them, especially in new export markets,” says Ntshepe.

In the past financial year Denel’s revenue grew by 41% to R8.2-billion. This can largely be attributed to a 6% surge in exports – which now accounts for 58% of total revenue. Ntshepe says Denel continues to explore opportunities to sell its products in priority regions, especially South East Asia, the Middle East and on the rest of the African continent.

One of agreements signed will be with Poly Technologies, China’s top state-owned defence supplier, to collaborate in the local maritime sector. The agreement will cover areas such as ship repairs, shipbuilding, naval systems and marine services.

Denel is also joining forces with the CSIR to develop and market local technology that can detect illegal fishing in South Africa’s coastal waters and the unauthorised dumping of waste oil into the ocean.

Another new product to be launched at AAD is the Africa Truck, a demonstrator model developed by Denel Vehicle Systems to meet the SANDF’s need for logistical and transport vehicles. Ntshepe says the truck will be based on Denel’s existing mine protection technology and can be used to support forces involved in peace-keeping operations in Africa.

Denel Dynamics is developing the Cheetah C-RAM missile that will be highly-effective to counter rockets, artillery and mortars launched by militias and terrorist groups. The Cheetah C-RAM will be integrated with the Oerlikon Skyshield developed by Rheinmetall Air Defence to offer a quickly deployable system that be used in homeland defence and by expeditionary forces.

Ntshepe says Denel Integrated Systems and Maritime is also leading the efforts to combat cyber terrorism in South Africa and will announce the creation of a dedicated business unit to focus on counter measures and cyber warfare.

A full-scale model of the South African Regional Aircraft – SARA – developed in collaboration with universities and research houses – will be on show at the Denel pavilion at AAD 2016. This is a national flagship project to develop a future passenger aircraft that can service smaller regional routes that are not covered by the major airline companies.

“AAD 2016 will demonstrate that Denel remains the leading defence and technology company in Africa,” says Ntshepe. “We are strengthening our existing capabilities in the landward defence and vehicle sectors and increasingly moving into command and control, missile technology, unmanned aerial vehicles and cyberspace.”

Ends

For further information, contact:

Pam Malinda

Cell: +27 (0) 82 686 2198
Tel: +27 (0) 12 671 2662
email: pamm@denel.co.za

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