# Denel continues execution of the G6 Modernization Contract

- Link: https://www.military.africa/2026/08/denel-continues-execution-of-the-g6-modernization-contract/
- Published: 2026-08-26T13:08:42+01:00
- Author: Richard Onuoha

Denel, a state-owned South African defence company, is proceeding with a R2 billion(
$105 million) contract to modernize G6 self-propelled howitzers for an undisclosed
Middle Eastern customer. Denel briefed Parliament’s Standing Committee on Appropriations(
SCOA) on the project’s status on 5 August 2026. The company told lawmakers it has
completed the first upgraded vehicle and expects to finalize the project baseline
in December. The briefing was first reported by DefenceWeb.

The contract runs across two phases. The first covers work in South Africa: modifying
a lead vehicle, running technical evaluations, training operators and maintenance
crews, and designing a dedicated upgrade facility for construction in the customer’s
home country. That facility is due for delivery in March 2027. Phase two moves the
work overseas. It covers commissioning the new facility, upgrading and servicing
the guns, delivering the modernized howitzers, and providing training and interim
support. Denel expects to hand over the first battery of upgraded G6s in June 2028,
a second battery in June 2029, and a third in June 2030. The full programme is scheduled
to run for five years.

The upgrade package touches most of the vehicle’s core systems. It includes overhauls
to hydraulics, electrical systems and air conditioning, a new powerpack, and an 
upgraded fire control suite covering gun laying, navigation and control software.
The contract also bundles in integrated logistic support, testing, evaluation and
integration work. Denel told SCOA that insufficient working capital could disrupt
daily project activity. The problem centers on a R350 million prepayment that the
company cannot currently draw on, because the contract’s guarantee issuer holds 
it as collateral.

To free up the funds, Denel is negotiating an alternative financing arrangement 
that would move the prepayment into an escrow account, accessible only under strict
project conditions. The Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa (ECIC)
would provide an insurance policy to back the arrangement. “Internal approvals are
already in place, allowing re-engagement”, Denel said, adding that it is waiting
on outcomes from both the ECIC and the local financial institution handling the 
transaction.

The G6, a 6×6 wheeled self-propelled howitzer built around [Denel’s 155 mm](https://www.military.africa/2023/09/denels-155mm-t5-52-self-propelled-howitzer-achieves-over-60-km-range/)
ordnance, entered service with the South African Army in the late 1980s. At introduction,
it was regarded as one of the most mobile [self-propelled](https://www.military.africa/2024/09/denel-unveils-rg41-gt7-105mm-self-propelled-howitzer-at-aad-2024/)
guns in the world, with a road speed of 85 km/h and a cross-country speed of 30 
km/h. The design has since been sold to the United Arab Emirates (78 delivered) 
and Oman (24 delivered), and 43 have been built for South Africa’s army.

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The gun can be fitted with either 45- or 52-calibre barrels and carries 45 projectiles,
50 charges, 64 primers, and 64 fuzes on board. Range depends on barrel length and
ammunition type: 30 km with standard high-explosive rounds from a 45-calibre barrel,
up to 39 km with base-bleed rounds, 55 km with 52-calibre base-bleed rounds, and
beyond 65 km using velocity-enhanced long-range projectiles. In November 2019, a
G6 set a range record, firing a velocity-enhanced round out to 76 km.

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The G6’s only two export operators are the UAE and Oman.For an operator running 
a 1980s-era artillery platform, the value of this kind of modernization lies less
in the gun than in everything around it. Hydraulic and electrical overhauls address
decades of component obsolescence, a problem that has also dogged the South African
Army’s own G6 fleet under the domestic Project Muhali upgrade programme. A new powerpack
extends service life and improves reliability. The fire control upgrade, covering
gun laying, navigation and control software, brings a Cold War-era design closer
to the targeting speed and accuracy expected of modern indirect fire systems.

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Building the upgrade facility inside the customer’s own territory also signals a
broader industrial offset arrangement, giving the client a domestic capability to
sustain and eventually service its own fleet rather than shipping vehicles back 
to South Africa for every overhaul cycle.

Denel has already completed a working prototype upgrade, evidence the engineering
side of the contract is on track. Whether the five-year delivery schedule holds 
now depends on how quickly the company, the ECIC and the guarantee issuer’s financial
institution can resolve access to the R350 million prepayment. Denel’s presentation
to SCOA suggests the company is confident a resolution is close, but the same briefing
acknowledged that day-to-day project execution remains vulnerable to further delay
until the escrow arrangement is finalized.

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