Intl partnerships start paying off for South African aerospace and defence group

1st August 2014

By: Keith Campbell

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

Font size: - +

South African missiles, unmanned air vehicles, systems integration and space company Denel Dynamics, part of the State-owned Denel defence industrial group, is most optimistic about its prospects. “The future is looking very exciting,” enthuses Denel Dynamics CEO Tsepo Monaheng. “We’d planned for 10% growth year-on-year but, in the latest revision, it looks like it will be more than 10%.”

This success will have beneficial consequences beyond the company. “We’ll need more people and we’ll have to expand our facilities,” he reports. “Most importantly, our local industry will be expected to respond, since our local supply chain plays a very important role in our sustainable growth. We are going to identify a few companies that will participate in our enterprise development project. We have a system of qualifying our supplier companies – we audit them and only when they have passed our audits can they supply us.”

The company has also been developing its international partnerships. Since 2006, it has been jointly developing the A-Darter infrared (IR) homing air-to-air missile (AAM) – originally conceived by Denel Dynamics – with Brazil. In 2012, Denel Dynamics joined with United Arab Emirates company Tawazun Holdings to create the Tawazun Dynamics joint venture (JV – 51% Tawazun Holdings, 49% Denel Dynamics).

Both partnerships have created opportunities for sales to third countries. “We’re looking at a possible export customer, a third country, outside the partnership, that is interested in the A-Darter,” he points out.

The initial Tawazun Dynamics programme was and still is the Al Tariq guided glide bomb kit, which can be strapped onto (US-designation) Mark (Mk) 81, Mk 82 and Mk 83 bombs. The system includes pop-out wings (extending range), global positioning system (GPS)/inertial navigation system (INS) guidance and either imaging IR or semi-active laser seeker systems. It is based on Denel Dynamics’ Umbani system. In late 2013, the United Arab Emirates Air Force placed a $492.5-million order for Al Tariq bomb kits.

“The benefits of our partnership with Tawazun have started to be realised beyond the initial contract,” he affirms. “There’s already an opportunity where we’re discussing a contract. We’re expecting two more to come by the end of August – these are for products in our guided weapons range. We are very excited with how the partnership with Tawazun is unfolding. It also creates an opportunity for the two companies to develop skills and new technologies.”


The Final Frontier

Last year, Denel Dynamics set up a new division – Spaceteq. While the rest of the company is based in Centurion, just south of Pretoria, in Gauteng province, Spaceteq is situated in Stellenbosch, in the Western Cape. It is located there because it took over the facilities, most of the personnel and the intellectual property of insolvent and liquidated space technology company Sun Space & Information Systems. SunSpace, as it was known for short, specialised in the design and assembly of low earth orbit earth observation (EO) microsatellites and was a spin-off from the University of Stellenbosch, using the expertise developed in the design and building of the country’s first satellite to enter space, Sunsat. SunSpace subsequently designed and built three EO microsatellites, one being South Africa’s Sumbandila and the other two being for two military clients in the Middle East.

“The establishment of the Spaceteq business within Dynamics was a very important strategic decision,” highlights Monaheng. “In the short time since the establishment of this business, we already have three international business opportunities. These are all for EO satellites. We are likely to recruit more than 100 technical people for Spaceteq over the next two years.”

Spaceteq GM Patrick Ndhlovu notes that the division’s current main products portfolio is composed of microsatellites, satellite subsystems (including star cameras and imagers) and the satellite ground segment (mission control stations). Currently, its main domestic programme is EOSat-1, as it designates the project to develop South Africa’s next EO micro- satellite, which, like Sumbandila, will be operated by the South African National Space Agency. EOSat-1 will have a 2.5 m resolution imager as its main instrument and is planned to be launched in 2019. It will have a designed mission life of seven years.

“Our roadmap going forward – we are looking to improve the resolution of the EO imager payload to submetre resolution (this is a requirement driven by an export client), a synthetic aperture radar payload and secure V-Sats (very small aperture terminals, which are small, ground-based dish antennas for two-way communications with satellites),” he notes. “Our medium-term priorities are the development of GNSS – [global navigation satellite system] – ground stations and a communications satellite.”

More widely, the division wants to establish itself in the global space engineering chain and maintain its ability to design and build spacecraft. Unfortunately, while South Africa does have satellite test capabilities at the Houwteq facility near Grabouw, in the Western Cape, these are now rather obsolete. “If we want a serious satellite programme, we need Houwteq,” he asserted. “Houwteq needs to be upgraded.”


Homing In

The company has quite a comprehensive port- folio of guided weapons – surface-to-air, air-to-air and air-to-surface, and surface target missiles, which were previously known as anti-tank missiles, but, worldwide, such weapons are now used to deal with many more and varied targets than just tanks and other armoured vehicles, hence, the change in designation; this category includes helicopter-launched weapons. The South African Department of Defence has played a key role in providing technology development and demonstration funding for many of the guided weapons now being marketed by Denel Dynamics.

The company’s activities include the development of specific weapons and the development of key systems and subsystems that can be used in a variety of weapons. With regard to the latter, it is focusing a lot of its attention and investment on the development of radar seekers and new rocket motors (to power longer-ranged missiles).

In the realm of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), the company’s product is the Umkhonto, an IR-guided short-range naval air defence system. This is in service with the South African and Finnish navies and has also been ordered by a North African navy. And the company is not standing still, but has active programmes to improve the missile and diversify its markets. A vehicle-mounted land-based version of the Umkhonto is under development to meet the needs of armies. And a technology demonstration programme for an extended range but still IR guided naval Umkhonto has been started. This new version is referred to as the Umkhonto-EIR and will require the development of a double pulse rocket motor. Beyond the Umkhonto-EIR there is a plan for the development of a radar-guided medium-range version, the Umkhonto-LR. This proposal is currently under discussion with a number of potential partners, but no firm project has yet been launched.

It should be noted that the Umkhonto has a secondary surface-to-surface role and that the South African Navy (SAN) has done some test firings of the missile in this role. The company is looking at modifying the warhead to improve its antiship capability. (However, the SAN’s main surface-to-surface missile is the French Exocet, which has a much longer range than the Umkhonto.)

Also in the broad air defence environment, an international trend in the past 10 to 15 years has been the development of Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar (C-Ram) systems. These are designed to shoot down incoming tactical rockets, artillery shells and mortar bombs. C-Ram systems can be guns, missiles or both. The most famous is undoubtedly the Israeli Iron Dome system. Denel Dynamics is currently also discussing with a few potential partners the possibility of developing a C-Ram system, but such a system is not yet in the company’s portfolio.

“In the AAM domain, we have two weapons: the A-Darter, which is in the qualification phase, and then we are in the technical development phase of a beyond-visual-range missile called Marlin,” reports Missiles GM Peet Venter. (Marlin is the name of the missile, not of the project.) “Armscor is funding us to demonstrate technologies during the next three to four years. After technology demonstration, we would need to go to full-scale development.” The development of a radar seeker is essential for the Marlin, and the plan is to use the same seeker for the Umkhonto-LR and, in due course, as an option for the Umkhonto-EIR.

In the air-to-surface sector, the company again currently has two products, both of which have been sold to foreign customers and for both of which there are plans and proposals for further development and improvement. The first of these is a tactical weapon – the abovementioned Umbani, which has a range of up to 100 km. It relies on GPS for midcourse guidance, while terminal guidance can be by GPS or by a laser system. The plan is to develop the Umbani in order to give it a greater range.

The second such weapon is considered by Denel Dynamics to be a strategic system. It is the Raptor. The current production model, being delivered to an export customer, is the Raptor II. This is an extremely high-precision rocket-powered weapon with a range of alternative heavy warheads of 600 kg each and a range of 150 km. It can be fitted with GPS/INS guidance, low light television or imaging IR seekers. When fitted with GPS/INS, it can be operated in the fire-and-forget mode; without this option, the target must be designated for it, but the weapon flies autonomously to the target area. Its targetting system can be reprogrammed in flight and it is an all-weather weapon. Under consideration is a significant redesign, designated Raptor III, that would replace the rocket motor with a small jet turbine. This would give a range approaching 300 km. A longer-term concept is the Raptor V, which would be a radical redesign with a new airframe, propulsion system, multimode seeker and other improvements: effectively, a totally new weapon.

The company has a number of products and projects in the surface targets missiles category. The older model on offer is the 5 km range Ingwe. This can be launched from light vehicles (using a single tube lightweight launcher), armoured vehicles (using turrets with multiple launchers) and helicopters. It employs laser beam-riding guidance. The latest model available is the larger, heavier, more powerful Mokopa. This has a range of 10 km and uses semi-active laser homing. It has been ordered by a North African country. Currently, it is only available in a helicopter-launched format.

The Ingwe and Mokopa are actually complementary systems, aimed at different niches. The former has not been replaced by the latter and is still on the market – indeed, a new version is currently being developed. In fact, Denel Dynamics is busy integrating the Ingwe onto a light helicopter type produced by Airbus Helicopter (formerly Eurocopter). Separately, the South African company is also integrating the Mokopa onto the AugustaWestland Super Lynx helicopter for its North African client, which will employ the missile in a naval role.

A project now under development is the Impi, which combines technology from the Ingwe and Mokopa. This will be a smaller, lighter weapon that is initially intended for use by small aircraft and unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). It is likely to be laser-guided and a man-portable version could be developed in due course.

Climbing High

Denel Dynamics is also known for its UAVs. Its Seeker II is still in service with a number of export customers (and has been operated in Afghanistan). Its current product portfolio is composed of the Seeker 200 (a considerably improved development of the Seeker II), the significantly larger and more capable Seeker 400, the smaller Hungwe and the Skua target drone. There was a project for a medium-altitude long- endurance UAV, named Bateleur, but this had to be put on hold owing to a lack of funding (it could be reactivated, if circumstances permit). However, the company’s UAVs were covered in some detail in Engineering News March 7, 2014.

According to UAV business development manager Sepanki Pheto, the company’s philosophy is to incorporate customer requirements into its designs. The resulting design factors include the need for systems to be as compact (and thus as portable) as possible, yet capable of rapid deployment. They must generate low noise, have a lower cost of operation and reduced maintenance requirements (compared with previous systems).

In due course, the company aims to produce an armed version of the Seeker 400 (currently, it is being developed solely as a surveillance system). This would turn it into an unmanned combat air vehicle. It has, in fact, been designed to be armed with the Mokopa missile, but could be fitted with the planned Impi as an alternative.

There is also a proposal to develop a replacement for the current Skua high-speed target drone. The new UAV would, like the Skua, be a dedicated target drone. “The replacement for the Skua is a paper concept at the moment but a client overseas is interested and wants a detailed specification,” states Monaheng. “The new drone would be modern and cost effective. Currently, we just call it the New Target System.”

The company is also active in systems integration. This is a spin-off from its work in integrating the South African Army’s ground-based air defence system (Gbads) Phase I. “We’re best known for our involvement in Gbads. We are the team that finished it at the end of the day,” affirms Integrated Systems Solutions (ISS) GM Ralph Mills. “We have no product; our focus is on providing specialised engineering solutions to our clients. We focus on the systems and systems-of-systems level. As a systems engineering capability, we are not biased towards one supplier or another. We’re like an engineering bureau on the side [of the company].”

Gbads Phase I, the weapon for which is the Thales Belfast Starstreak very short range air defence missile, has been in service for two years now. The next major project, due to start soon, is Gbads Phase II, the weapons for which will be the upgraded Rheinmetall twin 35 mm anti- aircraft guns. The ISS division is also diversifying its activities into air and naval activities.

“You’d be surprised [by] the number of systems engineers [industry is] losing to the banking sector,” he notes. “We need a core group of specialist systems engineers. We need an incubator of such skills in the form of a systems engineering school and mentoring programmes.

Our biggest challenge is to retain our young engineers because, after having participated in our programmes, they become very marketable,” observes Monaheng. “We have decided that the most important means of retention will be to create more exciting work, including new technology and product development.

“I want to reach a point where, when people in South Africa talk about the defence industry, it will be as a economic force, for, with the export opportunities we have, it will have a big impact on our local industry,” he highlights. “We don’t manufacture a lot [at Denel Dynamics] – we integrate [systems and parts usually designed by the company but manufactured elsewhere]. Our success is the success of the local industry.”

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION