Denel Aviation, South Africa’s largest defense equipment manufacturer, and United Industrial Corporation Oboronprom, forming part of Russian Technologies State Corporation, have signed a Teaming agreement on creation of a service center intended for Russian military and commercial helicopters in Sub-Saharan Africa. The contract was signed on behalf of Russian Helicopters Holding Company. AEX.ru

“The Teaming agreement was signed at the 7th Africa Aerospace and Defense show (AAD) at the Waterkloof air base in Tshwane. In the network of the partnership Denel Aviation will perform maintenance of military and commercial vehicles manufactured by Russian Helicopters. In future it will expand its range of services and perform repair and overhaul (MRO) of Russian helicopters”, - the holding company explained.

CEO of Denel Aviation, Mike Kgobe, believes that the agreement will significantly expand the company’s business in Africa and strengthen its position as the premier provider of MRO services in the Sub-Saharan Africa. “Our objective is to become the major maintenance hub for most of the modern commercial and military aircraft operating in Sub-Saharan Africa”, - Kgobe said. “The agreement is the culmination of a long-standing partnership between our companies”.

The African helicopter market is demonstrating high rate of growth. Russian Helicopters have the opportunity to strengthen its positions there, CEO of Russian Helicopters, Dmitry Petrov, said. “We see a great potential for our cooperation with Denel Aviation, which would help us provide a full service for the operators of Russian military and commercial helicopters on the continent”, - Petrov said.
The project assumes creation of the service center. Russian Helicopters Holding Company will deliver necessary equipment and documentation for Denel Aviation, train its personnel and help Denel assimilate different checks of the helicopters.