Ground-based air defence system nears operational readiness

Ralph Mills, the CEO of Denel Integrated Systems Solutions (DISS) says the company has successfully completed the contractual hardware delivery requirements for the ground-based air defence system (GBADS). "The SA Army will now take the equipment on inventory and initiate the commissioning phase of the programme. This will take the system to operational readiness with support from Denel," he says.

System engineers are developed

The delivery of the project follows extensive evaluation and testing conducted last year at the Swartkop Air Field in Tshwane and the Combat Training Centre at Lohatla in the Northern Cape. Soldiers from the Air Defence Artillery Formation assisted during the tests. The formation will be responsible for the deployment of the GBADS in anti-aircraft operations.

"System integration skills have been identified as a key strategic capability for our country and in DISS we now have the basis to build on these crucial skills," says Mills. One of the programmes in progress at DISS is the development of young system engineers who are trained and mentored in the discipline of system engineering.

Riaz Saloojee, group CEO indicated that the successful finalisation of this phase of the programme has positioned DISS well for subsequent stages and the company is now in a position to expand into other domains.