The SAAF Forum

LOCAL CHEETAH FIGHTER JETS SOLD TO ECUADOR

South African company Denel Aviation has sold 12 Cheetah C supersonic fighter aircraft to Ecuador. An agreement to conclude the deal was recently signed by the CEO of Denel Aviation, Mike Kgobe in the capital city of Ecuador, Quito.

Denel Aviation is the design authority of the single-seat fighter that was locally developed as a variant of the Mirage lll in the 1980s. In terms of the agreement with the Ecuadorian Air Force, Denel Aviation will continue to provide a comprehensive maintenance and support service for at least five years following the sale, with an option for renewal.

"The on-going maintenance contract reflects the global reputation of Denel Aviation to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) work to a wide range of aircraft models," says Mr Kgobe. Our offer met the needs of the Ecuadorian Air Force (FAE) that was looking to modernise its fighter fleet.

"This is an exciting business deal for South Africa," says Mr Kgobe. "The Denel Cheetahs have been in storage since they were retired from active duty in 2008. Denel Aviation and the South African Cheetah Support industry in conjunction with the South African Air Force were directly involved in the decommissioning and packaging for storage of the aircraft and support infrastructure.

The Denel Cheetah C and D aircraft were retired from service following the acquisition by South Africa of its new fleet of Saab Gripen fighter jets under the Strategic Defence package acquisition programmes.

Negotiations between Denel Aviation, Armscor and the FAE have been continuing since 2009. A FAE team visited South Africa in April this year to inspect the Cheetah fleet and to witness specific evaluation flights. The aircraft have been made available for sale through Armscor, the state agency responsible for the sale of surplus military products and equipment.

Denel Aviation (formerly Atlas Aircraft Corporation) was the prime contractor in the development of the Cheetah, a variant of the Dassault Mirage III, in the mid-1980's and holds the design authority for, and the maintenance expertise on the Cheetah.

Complete maintenance and acceptance flight testing will be conducted in South Africa and in Ecuador, now that the deal has been finalised. Denel Aviation earlier visited FAE facilities to review the infrastructure and technical capability of the Ecuadorian Air Force to accommodate the Cheetah aircraft to evaluate the level of support required and to identify the need for further training.

"This is a huge breakthrough for Denel Aviation and it will open up a number of new opportunities for Denel and other players in the local industry involved in Cheetah support," says Mr Kgobe.

Denel Aviation has accumulated world-class skills, expertise and business know-how in performing MRO-work on Mirage type aircraft. "Our future work with the Ecuadorian air force will provide an important platform to showcase local MRO capabilities to the rest of the world" says Mr Kgobe.

And this is maybe a small stone chucked into a very large forest, but could this possibly be a gateway for an upgraded Cheetah C in the future. This would be good for Denel, would it not?

I don't know if the Cheetah can really be upgraded more than it already is?

Cheetah sale to Ecuador worth $78.4m

By Dean Wingrin

Denel Aviation has confirmed that the total contract value of the 12 Cheetah fighter aircraft sold to Ecuador is expected to be $78.4 million.

The recently announced deal provides for five years of support in addition to the acquisition of the aircraft, support equipment, spares and training. CEO of Denel Aviation, Mike Kgobe, confirmed that the cost of the initial acquisition is $43.4 million and South African industry would receive a further $7 million per annum for support, with a total contract value of $78.4 million.

“The deal has a benefit for the specialist South African support industry which cannot be underestimated. Their involvement is crucial to ensuring the delivery and support success of the programme over the support period,” Kgobe said.

According to the Commander in Chief of the Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana (FAE), Brigadier General Leonardo Barreiro, the investment in acquiring the ex-South African Air Force aircraft is $80 million. Barreiro explained that the modernised South African aircraft would replace the twelve obsolete Mirage F1 fighters which the FAE has operated since 1979 and have completed their useful life.

“Our pilots travelled to South Africa to fly the aircraft and verify the aircrafts´ condition. Their report ratified that they are in good condition,” emphasised Barreiro.

The SAAF started the withdrawal of the Cheetah aircraft in the late 1990’s, with the retired aircraft utilised to support the remaining aircraft. The final aircraft were only to be retired once all the Swedish Gripens purchased under the Strategic Defence package acquisition programme had been delivered in 2012. However, the remaining 11 Cheetah C single-seat and five Cheetah D dual-seat aircraft were phased out in April 2008 to save costs. The Gripens are still in the process of being delivered, with the final delivery expected in 2012.

Both single seat and dual seat Cheetah form part of the Ecuadorian package, with ten Cheetah C and two Cheetah D being included in the package. It is expected that the first of the aircraft will arrive to Ecuador during the first quarter of 2011, once the periods stipulated in the Law of Public Contract have been fulfilled.

The Cheetah upgrade of the French Mirage III was developed by Denel Aviation and is based on the Israeli Kfir fighter, itself a development of the Mirage III. The modernisation consisted of a complete renovation of the airframe, implementation of fixed canards, two new weapon points on the wings, a new in-flight refuelling intake, new ejection seats and a more powerful engine. It also included more sophisticated avionics, radar and self protection. It is widely assumed that the two-seat Cheetah D was converted from existing SAAF Mirage III and Israeli Kfir stocks, while all the single-seat Cheetah C airframes were obtained from Israel.

According to Wikipeadia, the FAE has 13 Kfir C.2 and TC.2 (single and duel-seat aircraft respectively) in service, from 18 obtained directly from Israel. At least eight have already been upgraded to the latest Kfir C.10 version, known in Ecuador as the Kfir CE.

According to the FAE, the Cheetah is compatible in their electronics and weapons systems with the Israeli Kfir CE and will thus complement their supersonic fleet.