Defence symposium spotlight falls on Denel

Denel's chief executive Riaz Saloojee, says air defence is a market in which Denel has already provided the SA National Defence Force with turnkey ground-based systems, which are being extended into the maritime environment.

"Not only is Denel expanding its proven expertise in systems engineering and command-and-control to the maritime environment, but it is also growing its contribution in the "C4I" sector of the defence environment - namely, Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence," says Saloojee.

He says this is part of Denel's strategy to grow its revenue through the penetration of new markets and by finding additional business opportunities for existing core-systems capabilities.

"Denel has a strong record for the delivery of quality products, systems and support services in the aerospace and landward defence sectors," says Saloojee.

Maritime security is of growing importance for South Africa and Africa in general, with increasing demands to counter the growth of piracy in the waters surrounding southern Africa and protect the country's marine resources along the 2 500 km long coastline.

The SA Navy's four Valour Class Frigates are armed with Denel's Umkhonto missiles which will be on display at SAJADS 2013. The missiles are launched vertically and are specially designed to provide all-round defence against simultaneous air attacks from multiple combat aircrafts - both fixed wing and helicopters - as well as from incoming missiles.

Denel has identified a number of niche areas in which it has proven systems-level experience to strengthen the reach of the existing maritime sector.

More than 300 delegates are expected to attend the symposium, which has been organised by the SA Navy this year.