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Denel Aviation AH-2 Rooivalk
Denel Aviation AH-2 Rooivalk
Denel Aviation AH-2 Rooivalk
The South African Air Force (SAAF) has ordered 12 Rooivalk AH-2As, the first of which entered
service in July 1999. The helicopters are flown by 16 Squadron, which is based at AFB Bloemspruit
near Bloemfontein.
Due to the SAAF's decades of helicopter experience in the harsh African environment, the Rooivalk has
been designed to operate in very basic surroundings for prolonged periods without sophisticated support.
All that is needed to keep the Rooivalk flying is a medium transport helicopter equipped with a basic
spares supply plus four groundcrew.
Notable features include a tandem cockpit, starboard tail rotor with a port tail plane, and a fixed wheeled
undercarriage.
By April 2005, only six of the 12 aircraft were operational with the others in need of software upgrades.
The South African Air Force Chief hoped that the helicopters would be ready around June 2007,
indicating the "extremely worrying factor of time that the project was taking to reach maturity",
attributing the delays to the exodus of personnel from Denel as well as its financial problems. This has
forced the nation's air force to assess alternative defense development partners.
Missions
The following types of missions are foreseen for the AH-2 Rooivalk:
Reconnaissance
Heliborne escort
Close air support
Deep penetration
Anti-armour
Specifications
General characteristics
Performance
Armament