US company sues Denel for R124m over undelivered fighter jets

702's John Perlman gets some insight from aviation and defence journalist Dean Wingrin, correspondent for news portal defenceWeb.

State-owned arms manufacturer Denel faces a R124 million ($7 million) lawsuit from a defence company in the US over non-delivery of fighter jets.

In 2017, Draken International ordered 12 Cheetah fighter jets from Denel for adversary air training, of which only three were eventually delivered.

The delays resulted in Draken losing its contract with the United States Air Force (USAF), for which the Cheetahs were intended.

John Perlman gets some insight into the saga from defenceWeb's Dean Wingrin.

Citing the impact of the Covid pandemic AND state capture, Wingrin says Denel was hit by what could be described as 'a perfect storm'.

The planes destined for the US in a phased delivery were 12 ex-South African Air Force (SAAF) fighter jets, which Denel was bringing up to specific capability standards.

"There was the gutting of Denel from state capture - while the people on the ground were getting the aircraft ready, there were some strange decisions made by the senior management and leadership. This contract wasn't top of mind and their cash flow was literally in the negative, Denel couldn't afford to purchase various parts required... and suppliers wouldn't give these on credit."

Dean Wingrin, Correspondent - defenceWeb

"While those issues were happening, it was decided to insource a lot of this training back into the American air force, so Draken actually lost the contract for these aircraft."

Dean Wingrin, Correspondent - defenceWeb

"The technicians at Denel were very good, the ex-SAAF planes were good - they'd been withdrawn to make place for the new Gripen jets in 2008, and were handed back to Denel to sell them internationally."

Dean Wingrin, Correspondent - defenceWeb

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview, and click here to read Wingrin's detailed report