Denel now allowed to upgrade the Oryx
Date: 18 May 2007
The following is a (very) rough extract from an Afrikaans article that appeared in Beeld:
The long-awaited upgrading of the airforces Orys helicopters, which should have commenced last year, is now on course after Denel Aerospace received official certification from Eurocopter.
The certification is not only an advantage for the airforce, but it also means that Denel can, as a Eurocpter service centere, also service other Eurocopter products.
According to Denel, an example would be the recent upgrading of the Presidential Puma helicopter for an African country. That country has a number of Pumas which will now be upgraded at the Denel premises in Kempton Park.
The airforce warned last year that the Oryx helicopters would have to be taken out of service for a year if the upgrade did not commence soon.
The helicopters have been used in the last year for humaniterian help (such as the floods in Mozambique) and for peace operations.
A licence agreement from the apartheid years in which the Puma helicopters were secretaly upgraded to the Oryx and in which Denel undertook to Eurocopter that they would use the knowledge only for airforce purposes has been a point of contention in recent years. This was after Denel sold their mechanical helicopter workshop to Turbomeca Africa, together with the equipment to work on the Oryx.
Eurocopter objected as the upgrading would contravene the licence agreement.According to Denel, they had to repurchase the division, together with new equipment, for approximately R30m.
MrShaun Liebenberg, Executive Office Officer of Denel, earlier told Business24 that it took a few trips to France (where Eurocopter has its head office) and talks with all the important groups to settle the matter.
Denel and Eurocopter welcomed the certification of Denel. This means that 31 Denel technicians will be trained by Eurocopter in France, including the international qualification.
The R250m airforce tender has already been awarded to Denel. The upgrade includes the main gearbox and rotor and, according to Denel, means a life extension for 34 of the airforces 49 Oryxs.
The biggest advantage of the certification and airforce tender, according to Denel, is that their helicopter workshops will be permanently busy for the next three years.
