Agusta signs up with Denel

Agusta and Denel have signed a Product Supply Agreement for the A109 Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) programme as part of the offset agreements reached when South Africa announced its major arms purchases last year.

This agreement is part of the earlier LUH Main Contract signed with South Africa's defence acquisition agency, Armscor, which provided for the industrial participation of Denel Aviation in the A109 LUH program.

Amedeo Caporaletti, Agusta Chairman and CEO with
Max Sisulu, Denel Group Deputy CEO at the official signing.

The agreement is for a phased multiple year programme for the manufacture of the complete A109 LUH airframe and systems installation in South Africa. Denel Aviation will be involved in the integration of subsystems, manufacture, final assembly, customisation engineering and flight testing of 25 of the 30 helicopters to be delivered to Armscor for the South African Air Force. The first five helicopters will be produced and assembled in Italy.

Another agreement with Denel for the license production and sale of the Agusta A109 LUH and Agusta A119 Koala helicopters will follow shortly.

"The production under license of the A119 Koala will grant South Africa's Aerospace Industry, and in particular Denel, additional benefits allowing it to enter the civil market in the long term," said Max Sisulu, Denel Deputy CEO. "We are very happy and proud to be associated with Agusta in this venture, which underscores our belief that our aviation industry ranks with the world's best."

Amedeo Caporaletti, Agusta Chairman and CEO, responded by saying: "Denel has developed outstanding capabilities in aerospace technologies and Agusta is looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial collaboration, not only on the LUH programme but also in the global commercial market."

In addition to the Denel contract, further agreements will soon be signed with other South African Aerospace Industries like Tellumat, Denel's Cumulus, Avitronics, F.B.S. and African Defence Systems (ADS), which will enable Agusta to establish strategic collaboration with South African industry. The contract for the communications system has already been signed with GES a few weeks ago. At the same time, these agreements will serve to improve the overall direct South African participation in the LUH program.

The LUH programme also envisages indirect civilian industrial participation in collaboration with several Italian-based companies ready to invest in South Africa.

The Agusta A109 was the best-selling light twin engine helicopter in 1999. More than 150 have been ordered world-wide since the model's introduction, spanning a broad range of operations including police, EMS, VIP/Corporate and military applications.

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