Husky brings home the bacon for DCD
SOUTH African-owned heavy engineering solutions group DCD has concluded delivery to the US Army of an order for its flagship Husky vehicle mounted mine detector.
The dedicated build programme resulted in R10.3 billion in foreign exchange earnings for the South African economy and the creation of 1 320 local jobs.
Rob King, DCD’s managing director, said yesterday that DCD had received the first order from the US Army in about 2009 and in total it comprised about 1 500 Husky vehicles.
King said the majority of the vehicles were manufactured at the DCD factory in Boksburg, which the protected mobility division previously shared with DCD Rolling Stock.
He said the capability of the Husky was warehoused by the US Army after the first order was delivered. But once the threat of homemade bombs, or improvised explosive devices, emerged in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Husky was recognised as the kit to solve this problem.
King said the group’s protected mobility operation was at the forefront of protective defence vehicle manufacture internationally and the Husky had the distinction of being the only South African armoured vehicle to achieve full approval for use by the US Army and Marine Corps.
He said there were operational needs in the US military that would justify the placement of further orders for the Husky but the decline in expenditure on the military in line with budgetary requirements in the US would prevent this happening for the next two or three years.
But Andrew Mears, the general manager of DCD Protected Mobility, said the US Army programme had the potential to enhance the Husky.
Mears added that ongoing engagement with the US government provided the further benefit of considerable leverage to “expand our presence” in Group of Seven markets.
Although DCD Protected Mobility had focused almost exclusively on export, this was set to change in the future because the company was well positioned to take advantage of demand from the vehicle replacement programmes of the SANDF. These would be among the biggest in the world in the next decade, he said.
King said DCD was targeting the SANDF’s requirement for logistics and armoured vehicles but such an order was still about two years away.
DCD Protected Mobility is an original equipment manufacturer. It developed and owns the intellectual property of the Husky.
King said its new R100 million manufacturing facility in Isando, Johannesburg, was commissioned in June last year.
The facility had established DCD’s local supply chain and would enable the group to supply the SANDF from a local base, using local skills and materials in line with the government’s localisation programme.
It would also enhance existing exports for the US Army and Marine Corps and into the rest of Africa, Britain, France, Australia, Canada, Spain and Turkey.
He said boosting the capability of the local manufacturing sector to meet localisation requirements would continue to stimulate the local economy and create jobs.
The DCD group provides heavy engineering products and services globally through four clusters: rail; mining and energy; defence; and marine. It was a partner with the government in developing appropriate local content parameters for manufacturing.