The story
Denel was established as a state-owned industrial company under the Department of Public Enterprises in April 1992. It inherited most of Armscor's production and research facilities, and over 15,000 employees. At the time of its formation, Denel restructured and reorganised the former Armscor subsidiaries into a number of divisions and subsidiaries within five industrial groups: systems, manufacturing, aerospace, informatics, and properties and engineering services.
Denel has developed a number of notable products, such as:
The Rooivalk attack helicopter.
The Atlas Oryx utility helicopter.
The Umkhonto vertical launched air defence missile.
Mokopa tandem warhead anti-tank guided missile, with a range of 10 km.
Together with Gerald Bull, the G6 self-propelled howitzer and G5 towed howitzer, the longest ranged guns in their class worldwide, supported with base bleed, VLAP and the advanced fuzing technology.
The 5th generation A-Darter air-to-air missile, currently in the final phases of development.
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The Overberg Test Range is used for advanced aerial testing of missiles by Denel and other clients such as NASA, EADS and BAE Systems.
Though Denel's market share is increasing, it still has not signed significant international contracts that will bring a real market return for its investments in development and research costs. In 2006, Denel signed a contract with the Finnish Navy for the Umkhonto air defence missile; this was a significant step, since it was the first significant sale to a western nation. The Swedish defence force was also interested in the Umkhonto missile, but due to budget constraints had to put its purchase on hold.
Although Denel has comparable quality products, at lower prices, it has struggled to attract buyers, with the Rooivalk attack helicopter being a prime example of this. After being developed at a cost of R1 billion, no sales were made as the contract from Turkey for $2 billion was lost. The development of the Rooivalk, which could be Denel's most profitable project, also threatens to result in its largest loss ever.
In 2009 and 2010, RheinMetall Denel, a Denel subsidiary, advertised artisan training programmes and study bursaries which excluded white applicants, but relented after a meeting with trade union Solidarity.
From Wikipedia’s article on Denel, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4