South African defence industrial group Denel has a clear plan for the future of Turbomeca Africa (TMA), which it is in the process of buying off Safran Helicopter Engines (Safran HE), part of France’s Safran SA aero engines group. Hitherto, TMA (originally established in 2002) was a joint venture between Denel and Safran HE, the French business holding 51% and the South African group 49%. “Our takeover is still subject to final approvals,” Denel Group chief strategy officer Theo Kleynhans tells Engineering News.

Up to now, TMA has had three primary functions: support of operators; maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO); and the manufacture of engine parts. On average, it has carried out some 150 equivalent engine overhauls and repairs annually on three types of engine – the Arrius 2, the Makila 1 and the Turmo IVC (all Safran, or Safran-predecessor company, designs). The Arrius 2 is an engine designed for small helicopters (weighing between 1.5 t and 3.2 t), which entered service in 1996 and is still in production. The Makila 1 power plant is fitted to Airbus Helicopters Super Puma helicopters and to South Africa’s Denel Oryx transport and Denel Rooivalk attack helicopters. The Turmo IVC powers the still widely used Puma helicopter (except for upgraded machines fitted with the more powerful Makila).

“In future, TMA will focus on the MRO of Makila and Arrius engines and accessories for the South African Air Force (SAAF),” he reports. “But manufacturing activities at TMA will stop. MRO and other activities – special processes: heat treatment and surface treatment for steel – will be maintained. We’re going absolutely for a cash-generating position for the company; it must pay its way. Makilas will still fly for many years. There will be at least another ten years of solid SAAF Makila support. But we will also be doing Makila support for Safran – there will be a good relationship with Safran going forward. We will be doing work for them as well. And we will also be looking at work on other engines, including non-Safran engines.”

At the recent press briefing on Denel’s financial results, in response to a question from Engineering News, Kleynhans observed: “Internationally, the Super Puma fleet has run into problems – a large part of the fleet has been grounded. So MRO work on the Makila has come under pressure. And work for Rolls-Royce on the Tay engine has come to an end: this engine is no longer in production. So we decided to focus on the Makila, which is essential for the SAAF.”

He also explained that TMA would be integrated with Denel’s new consolidated aviation business, Denel Aeronautics. This has been created by the merger of the former Denel Aviation (DAv) and Denel Aerostructures (DAe) businesses. DAv, DAe and TMA are all located in the same Denel complex in Kempton Park, east of Johannesburg, at OR Tambo International Airport (on the opposite side of the airfield from the passenger and air cargo terminals).

For many years, DAe was a lossmaker for Denel, at one point dragging the whole group into the red. However, the successful implementation of a turnaround strategy saw the business significantly cut its losses. And, Kleynhans assured, DAe had achieved profitability, without outside support, before it was merged with DAv. “The profitability was largely the result of the restructuring of the business, which included amongst others, a shared service-level agreement across the Kempton Park campus, a reduction of footprint and rental costs, and renegotiated contracts with customers,” he explained. “DAe had stabilised, was delivering on time and was ahead of its target on the [Airbus Defence & Space] A400M [military transport aircraft programme, for which Denel is both a development partner and a Tier 1 supplier]. So we needed to look at the future of DAe. We felt, given the level of integration already achieved on the Kempton Park campus, it would be best to integrate DAe and DAv. This also allows us to consolidate and integrate the scarce engineering skills found in both companies.” For the future, the focus will be on the planned upgrade of the SAAF’s Rooivalk helicopters. The A400M will remain the anchor client for the aerostructures side of the business, which is also expanding its work for the commercial aviation sector.