ALAN DRON
Denel Aerospace of South Africa comes to the show hopeful of expanding its offset work on the Saab/BAE Systems Gripen fighter.Denel's Kempton Park factory has begun work within the past few days on building a central fuselage section - the main landing gear unit - for the Gripen. The South African Air Force (SAAF) will receive 28 Gripens to replace its ageing fleet of 120 Mirage and Cheetah combat aircraft. The company is to build 40 such sections for use in Swedish Air Force aircraft under a contract worth $3.6 million. It holds options for a total of 100 fuselage sections, which are expected to include those for the South African fleet. Negotiations are under way on further similar work in the shape of an aft fuselage section. Denel is keen to take labour-intensive work such as the fuselage sections to provide work that will expand the skills base of its workers.
It has also developed Nato-standard underwing pylons for the Gripen and is producing rudder assemblies for the BAE Systems RJ/RJX regional jet and tailplanes for the BAE Systems Hawk jet trainer as part of the offset agreement covering South Africa¹s purchase of Gripens and Hawks.
Source: Flight Daily News
