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I'd rather invest in the South African New Attack Helicopter (NAH) program:
Private aviation group works on own attack-helicopter design
South African aviation and defence company Advanced Technologies and Engineering (ATE) has embarked on conceptual planning for the development of what is to be known as the New Attack Helicopter (NAH), external affairs director Lorris Duncker tells Engineering News.
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.
Private aviation group works on own attack-helicopter design
South African aviation and defence company Advanced Technologies and Engineering (ATE) has embarked on conceptual planning for the development of what is to be known as the New Attack Helicopter (NAH), external affairs director Lorris Duncker tells Engineering News.
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.