South African State-owned defence industrial group Denel would use the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) Exhibition 2022 to, in effect, relaunch itself, the company indicated in a statement on Wednesday. AAD 2022 was the first iteration of the exhibition to be held since before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and would take place at Air Force Base Waterkloof in Pretoria, later this month.

“We are redefining the future of Denel and AAD 2022 will be an ideal platform to demonstrate to the aerospace, defence and related technology sectors – and the public – that the company is, again, rebuilding and refocusing for growth,” stated Denel interim CE Mike Kgobe. “AAD brings together some of the world’s top aerospace and defence decision-makers and industry analysts and we intend to showcase the products which built Denel’s global reputation and offer insights into our future strategy.”

Denel had been one of the State-owned groups which had been emmeshed in the gigantic web of corruption and looting, known as ‘State capture’, which had thrived in South Africa under the administration of the country’s previous President, Jacob Zuma. As a result, Denel had been left impoverished and so lacking in funds as to be unable to properly renumerate its staff. It consequently – as the statement effectively admitted – lost “critical skills”, as staff departed, and suffered reputational damage.

The group had recently unveiled a five-year plan to transform and rejuvenate itself. This included reducing the number of its operating divisions, and focusing on its core business areas, namely the air, land, sea and space domains, as well as diversifying into the security sector. This development had followed the “complete overhaul” of its board, its executive and its governance structures. The aim was to streamline the company and return it to profitability.

Kgobe assured that Denel remained an innovative group, capable of delivering products of world-class across a broad range of technologies in the aerospace, defence and related sectors. He pointed out, further, that Denel played a “critical role” in meeting the country’s security requirements. It retained a portfolio of battle-proven and “industry-leading” products, including uncrewed aerial vehicles, the Rooivalk attack helicopter, the A-Darter air-to-air missile, the Umkhonto-IR surface-to-air missile, the Ingwe and Mokopa “surface target” missiles, the G5-45 long-range gun-howitzer and the RG31 and RG32 ranges of mine-protected vehicles. Many of these would be displayed at AAD 2022.

“These systems all represent the pinnacle of the South African aerospace, defence and related technology sectors,” he stressed. “We want to demonstrate the fact that Denel remains capable of producing such systems while being at the forefront of research and innovation into new products.”