ABU DHABI, 13 Feb, 05 (WAM) - South Africa's Denel Group is showcasingsome of its world-class defence and aerospace systems at the IDEX 2005 "With our Indigenously developed systems Denel is able to satisfy manyof our clients' desire for strategic independence of traditional suppliers,"explains Victor Moche, Denel's chief executive officer. "South Africa'sproven defence industrial capability makes Denel a preferred non-alignedpartner for Gulf countries. We've successfully built on such relationshipsas can be seen in our partnering here with the local Emirates companyIGG." Denel, as a long-standing provider of maintenance, logistic andupgrade support to the UAE land forces, has partnered with IGG and SingaporeTechnologies Kinetics (STK) for future proposed UAE's land vehicle maintenancebusiness.

"By launching our G6~52 wheeled self-propelled artillery system at JDEXtwo years ago, Denel confirmed to our clients in this region that we'llcontinue to invest substantially in our core competencies like artillery,"explains Moche.

"This is true for a range of land systems, notably artillery and its sub-systems,as well as for Denel's aerospace products, like UAVs, missiles and guidedweapons, optronic systems, sighting systems and even rotorcraft like theRooivalk attack helicopter." According to Victor Moche several countriesare showing keen interest in Denel's Umbani precision-guided bomb-kit.

Although still in development for the South African Air Force, the Umbani'skey features make it a cost-effective yet high performance standoff weaponfor many other countries.

Shown to great effect in live firing demonstrations at IDEX 2003, Denel'sIngwe ('Leopard') medium range anti-armour missile is now attracting Increasingattention In the Gulf. The virtually unjammable laser beam-riding missileis sure to build on its export success.

Another new Denelaerospace system that would engage clients at IDEX 2005 is a MALE unmannedaerial vehicle (UAV), seen for the first time in South Africa last September.

Designed to complement Denel's proven Seeker /I system, this UA V carryinga large payload operates above 25 000 feet with a very good action radiusand endurance of around 24 hours. True to Denel's philosophy of usingexisting buiiding blocks, the composite UAV is modular in construction.