South Africa's Rooivalk line to be reopened

[HRK]

South Africa's defence minister calls for Rooivalk line to be reopened - IHS Jane's 360

South African defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has called for Denel to restart production of the Rooivalk attack helicopter, although it is unclear at this stage how likely this might be.

Speaking after a briefing in Cape Town on South African participation in peace-support missions, Mapisa-Nqakula said the small Rooivalk detachment deployed to support the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had enjoyed a remarkable impact and demonstrated the effectiveness of the aircraft. She added that other countries had made enquiries about the Rooivalk.

The South African Air Force (SAAF) has also deployed Oryx medium transport helicopters to the DRC to support the UN's Force Intervention Brigade. The Oryx was developed in the 1980s using the fuselage of the Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma in the 1980s, but with the more powerful engines and related gearbox from the Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma, as well as its longer tail boom to offset the greater torque.

Although developed in parallel with the Oryx, the Rooivalk is unique except that it employs a variant of the same engine and shares some other elements of the dynamic system.

The original intention had been to build 36 Rooivalks for the SAAF, but that was cut to just 12 when defence funding was slashed after 1990. Despite good reviews from potential customers, no export orders emerged, largely because the SAAF had not taken the helicopter into full service due to funding shortfalls. A possible Turkish order was thwarted by a foreign supplier that refused to supply a critical component.

While the Rooivalk is now operational, it still lacks the 10,000 m-range Mokopa laser-guided missile expressly designed for it by Denel Dynamics because there is no funding to buy the weapon. The Mokopa, meanwhile, is being produced for an export order to arm shipboard helicopters.

 

[HRK]

Rooivalk attack helicopters perform well in first combat action against M23 | African Defence Review

Posted by Darren Olivier on Nov 5, 2013 in Central Africa, Featured


Yesterday, at approximately 17h00 Congolese time, two South African Air Force Rooivalk helicopters attached to the UN’s Force Intervention Brigade flew the craft’s first ever combat mission. The helicopters fired multiple 70mm rocket salvos against M23 bunkers near Chanzu in what is a mountainous region close to the Rwandan border.

Early reports from sources in the area indicate that the action was successful, with the Rooivalks’ tactical approach through the clouds taking the M23 defenders by surprise and their rocket fire being accurate enough to disperse them and destroy one of the 14.5 mm anti-aircraft guns that had been previously used to fire at the Rooivalks and other helicopters.

The attack was combined with a renewed FARDC assault and subsequent claims by the DRC government that the remaining M23 senior commanders have now fled across the border into Rwanda. However this could not be independently verified.

This is the first time Rooivalk helicopters have engaged in combat since the prototype’s first flight 23 years ago.

Update: In the days since this article was published, further information has become available on this mission.

DefenceWeb reported that the operation ceased at 18h20 hours after one Rooivalk had fired 38 rockets and the other 17, with our sources confirming that these were fired in five separate salvos.

Major Pethias Mdoka, the Force Intervention Brigade’s Military Public Information Officer, confirmed the Rooivalk’s involvement, telling African Defence Review: “The FIB supported FARDC in neutralising M23 positions at Tshanzu with the use of artillery and Rooivalk attack helicopters at 17H10 on 4 November. By 06H00 the next morning FARDC forces held the ground.”

 

[HRK]

CSH-2 Rooivalk
CSH-2 Rooivalk
Fotografías Militares y Videos Militares El Gran Capitán • Ver Tema - AH-2A Rooivalk

Specifications
Country of Origin: South Africa
Builder: Denel Aviation / Atlas Aircraft Co
Role: Attack helicopter
Rotor Diameter:15.22m
Length: 18.65m
Height: 5.15m
Weight: 13,030lb / 5730 kg empty
19,290lb / 8750 kg maximum takeoff
Engine: 2 Makila 1K2 Turboshaft (1845 shp)
Maximum speed: 309 km/h
Cruising speed: 278 km/h
Range:
Service Ceiling: 20,000 ft
Armament

• 20-mm-cannon (with 700 round)
• 8 or 16 x anti-tank missiles, ZT-6 Mokopa with laser or millimetre-wave guidance
• 4 x Matra BAe Dynamics Mistral air-to-air missiles
• 2 x Denel V3P air-to-air missiles
• 38 or 76 x unguided rockets

Crew: 2 in tandem (pilot and weapons systems officer)

 

[Quwa]

Although resurrecting Rooivalk might be a challenge, the South Africans may develop a new attack helicopter, perhaps something more palatable for the export market. The company ATE proposed a program called the "New Attack Helicopter", an export-oriented attack helicopter.

Private aviation group works on own attack-helicopter design

"He states that the design philosophy for the NAH "is to use proven and operational weapons systems and to design an airframe around that, rather than following some existing design phisolophies, which focus predominantly on the airframe, leaving the weapons system development to the last".

It is envisaged that the platform features of the NAH will include a tandem layout; an all-composite airframe with integral infrared suppressors; and an engine, a gearbox and a drivetrain similar to those on the South African-made Rooivalk attack helicopter.

It will also feature a weapons system comprising a turret-mounted 20-mm dual-feed cannon with a range of up to 2 000 m; guided and unguided rockets; canister-protected, and laser beam-riding guided Ingwe missiles on stub-wing outboard stations, boasting a range of 500 m to 5 000 m. The missiles will be capable of penetrating 950 mm rolled homogeneous armour.

The weapons system will also boast chaff and flare countermeasures coupled to the mission electronic warfare system, including missile approach warning, radar warning and laser warning.

The NAH's avionics will include a three-screen glass cockpit for each crew station, a digital map with Doppler/global positioning system hybrid navigation, a communications and electronic warfare suite, an identification-of-friend-or-foe system and a voice/data recorder."

The sighting system will comprise a nose-mounted system, boasting three field-of-view forward-looking infrared and three field-of-view TVs; provision for laser range finding; autotracking, missile guidance and laser designation capabilities; a helmet-mounted sighting system for cannon and sight cueing; and binocular vision displays on the visors of both crew members. Aiming and flight information will be displayed in the field of view.

"The focus of the NAH will be to transfer technology and to create the capability for a new helicopter industry in the country of the prospective customer," says Duncker.