Defence contractor Denel and the South African Air Force have formed a strategic partnership to cut maintenance costs of the air force’s newly acquired aircraft and help retain skilled personnel, air force chief Lt -Gen Carlo Gagiano said yesterday.

Because the Waterkloof air force base was already being renovated, the move had provided a great opportunity to redesign it, he said.

New maintenance and repair facilities were added to help facilitate Denel’s relocation to Pretoria from the OR Tambo International airport. Gagiano said it was costing the air force a fortune to send aircraft for repairs at Denel’s OR Tambo facilities.

The relocation will increase savings because the air force would be using its own infrastructure to fix and store the aircraft. An added bonus for both the air force and Denel is that they will be able to share skills, and enhance efficiency.

“We have been paying for maintenance in dollars, pounds and even euros*1 for our aircraft and this move will increase our chances of paying in the local currency and take advantage of Denel’s growing expertise,” said Gagiano.

Denel Aviation CEO Ismail Dockrat said relocation to Waterkloof would also reduce overheads for Denel and help maximise its staff’s exposure to the operations and repairs of all kinds of air force aircraft and aviation electronics equipment.

He said Denel’s partnership with a variety of international avionics companies and other role players in the industries that have invested in SA would help expose the air force to all available expertise in the country.

The retention of highly skilled avionics personnel and pilots had been a challenge for the air force and it was hoped that the partnership would encourage them to remain.

Gagiano said that because companies, including parastatals such as Transnet, had either stopped or considerably scaled down their in-service training programmes, the country’s economy and specialised services such as the air force were suffering due to insufficient supply of skills.

“International sources are also scouting our expertise and the air force in this case just cannot compete against the large remuneration packages luring our personnel off to new challenges,” he said.

The Waterkloof air force base is also undergoing a R600m reconstruction of its two runways. This is to prepare it ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup*2, and for the expected load of large cargo aircraft for international aid agencies.

It would also need to accommodate world leaders attending summits and meetings in Pretoria.

Various other projects are also in the pipeline, including the construction of new aircraft hangars for the air force’s new A400M transport aircraft*3 which are due to be delivered from 2010.

The Waterkloof base is home to various squadrons including those which operate the workhorse C130 transport aircraft*4 used to support South African peacekeepers elsewhere in Africa.

There is also the VIP air transport unit which operates the president’s Boeing BBJ and several other VIP aircraft used to fly high-ranking members of the government and the defence force.

Gagiano said the air force would next year focus on vigorous preparatory training with the police, the navy and the army for the security of the Confederations Cup and the 2010 Soccer World Cup*5. 

With acknowledgements to Hopewell Radebe and Business Day.