Featuring Africa’s top aerospace and defence innovations
A number of top innovations in the global aerospace and defence arena were ideated on the African continent - a few of which will feature at the upcoming premier Africa Aerospace & Defence (AAD) Expo that is set to take place in South Africa from 14 – 18 September 2016. We take a closer look at some of these inventions.
The Advanced, High Performance, Reconnaissance, Light Aircraft (AHRLAC)
The AHRLAC is a versatile, rugged, reliable and manned aircraft that can fulfil a multitude of guarding and patrolling functions for:
- Civil and private security
- Policing and anti-poaching
- Training purposes
- Commercial and industrial safety and security
- Military missions
Just some examples of its practical application include swift delivery of fuel and critical supplies, guarding of neighbourhoods and borders, as well as patrolling of game lodges. Key advantages of the AHRLAC are:
- It has no airspace restrictions
- There are no range constraints
- Logistics are simple and uncomplicated
- It has no tunnel vision
- It can be utilised for problem areas
- It is manned for simplicity and economy
The Rooivalk Attack Helicopter
The Denel Rooivalk is an attack helicopter and premium African invention that is still renowned to this day for unparalleled engineering in its category. The main attributes of this outstanding aircraft are:
- The main and rotor blades have exceptionally high resistance to hits from small arms
- Built for performance, it boasts two turbo engines and two staggered cockpits
Its weapons can furthermore deliver a myriad of hard-hitting projectiles against targets from a distance of several kilometres. This extraordinary aviation machine will be available for closer inspection at the AAD Expo 2016.
The Seeker 400 UAS
Few things can escape the ‘eye’ of the Seeker 400 UAS, a high-performance self-contained system - that functions within direct line-of-sight ranges of up to 250 km from its base station. This exceptional aviation system offers:
- Real-time day and night reconnaissance
- Target location and designation
- Artillery fire support It also has a number of other remarkable features:
- Great payload carrying capacity
- High-definition (HD) video imagery function
- Real-time data acquisition ability
- Capability for transmission to remote receivers
- Autonomous take-off and landing capabilities.
The Paramount Mbombe
The Paramount Mbombe is an armoured, agile infantry fighting vehicle that is fitted with 30mm overhead weapons. It offers extraordinary mobility and firepower and is purposefully built for incomparable protection against landmines, side blasts, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attacks. Principal characteristics include:
- Advanced new technology that deviates from the conventional V-shape design
- Standard high level of protection against kinetic energy and blast attacks
- A mine protected flat bottom hull that reduces its profile to less than 2.4 meters
Many more such original creations as well as the latest developments from best of breed brands in the aviation and defence industry will be demonstrated and showcased at the AAD Expo 2016.
