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South African missile company aiming to develop new products

4th July 2014

By: Keith Campbell

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

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South African high-technology company Denel Dynamics must meet the challenges and seize the opportunities facing it, not only for the sake of the company itself but for the sake of the country as a whole. So asserted company CEO Tsepo Monaheng, addressing staff and guests at the conclusion of the recent Denel Dynamics Show and Tell 2014 event. Denel Dynamics specialises in missiles and other guided weapons, unmanned air vehicles and space technology. It is part of the State-owned Denel defence industrial group.

“We have a responsibility – we have the people looking up to us,” he affirmed. “The [defence and high-tech] solutions are expected to come from us. If we don’t respond positively to the requirements, we will have failed the country.” He emphasised that the company needed to make South Africa a “partner of choice” to cooperate with, to do business with and to supply solutions. “There’s business that we have to manage successfully; there are strategic imperatives we need to respond to.”

Denel Dynamics needed to continue to develop products, systems and services that are required by the South African National Defence Force. And it had to do the same for customers in friendly countries. “We have to export – we have to compete in the international market. We have to [further] develop engineering capabilities. “Export success will allow the company to continue to support the wider South African industry (Denel Dynamics has a significant local supply chain). That, in turn, will help the country’s economic growth.

“We have a worrying situation in the employ-ment of people, especially young people,” he stressed. “If we continue to create jobs in the industry around us, we will be helping to meet this challenge.” He noted that the company was internationally respected. “We must maintain the company on this level.” This requires the continuous development of new products. “Young engineers,” pointed out Monaheng, “want exciting and technically empowering work.”

Within Denel Dynamics, the missile division is focusing a lot of its attention and investment onto the development of radar seekers and new rocket motors. These developments are the essential prerequis-ites to the development of longer-ranged air defence missiles. The company currently has two longer-ranged- missile projects. These are the Umkhonto-LR medium-range naval surface to air missile (SAM) and the Marlin beyond-visual-range air to air missile.

The Umkhonto-LR would be a development of the current Umkhonto-IR infrared homing naval SAM, which is in service with the South African and Finnish navies and has been ordered by a North African navy. The current missile is classified as a short-range air defence (Shorad) missile.

However, the Umkhonto-LR will not be the next development of the weapon. That will be the Umkhonto-EIR, which will also be infrared homing and will be an extended-range Shorad system. Later, however, the Umkhonto-EIR could be fitted with the same radar seeker as the planned Umkhonto-LR. Technology demonstration funding for the Umkhonto-EIR is being provided by the South African Department of Defence (DoD) through acquisition agency Armscor.

The Marlin is also in the technology demon-stration phase, again funded by the DoD through Armscor. This phase should last about three years.

Further development of both the Umkhonto-LR and Marlin projects, to full-scale production, is likely to require the participation of a foreign partner. This was and is the case with Denel Dynamics’ other current missile project, the A-Darter, which is now close to entering production. This has been developed as a joint project with Brazil and will see service with both the South African and the BrazilianAir Force.

 

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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