The Denel AH-2 Rooivalk is an attack helicopter manufactured by Denel Aerospace Systems of South Africa. Rooivalk is Afrikaans for "Red Kestrel". The South African Air Force (SAAF) has ordered 12 Denel Rooivalk AH-2As, the first of which entered service in July 1999. The Denel AH-2 Rooivalk 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 Denel AH-2 Rooivalk has been designed to operate for prolonged periods without sophisticated support. All that is needed to keep the Denel AH-2 Rooivalk flying is a medium transport helicopter equipped with a basic spares supply plus four ground crew.
The Denel AH-2 Rooivalk carries a range of weapons depending on the mission profile. It is generally fitted with a nose-mounted 20 mm cannon and can also carry air-to-air missiles, anti-armour missiles and unguided rockets. The Denel AH-2 Rooivalk has a fire control system for target acquisition and tracking as well as an advanced navigation system using Doppler radar and GPS. Also incorporated is an electronic countermeasures suite coupled with chaff and flare dispensers.
Notable features include a tandem cockpit, starboard tail rotor with a port tailplane, a fixed wheeled undercarriage as well as wire cutters above and below the cockpit and on the undercarriage.
The following types of missions are foreseen for the Denel AH-2 Rooivalkk: Reconnaissance, heliborne escort, close air support, deep penetration and anti-armour.
Denel AH-2 Rooivalk Specifications
General characteristics
- Crew: 2 (pilot & weapon systems officer)
- Length: 18.73 m, 61ft 5in (main rotor to tail rotor); 16.39 m fuselage ()
- Rotor diameter: 15.58 m (51ft)
- Height: 5.19 m (17ft)
- Empty weight: 5,190 kg (11,441 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 8,750 kg (19,290 lb)
- Internal fuel capacity: 1,469 kg, (3,238 lb)
- Powerplant: 2× Turbomeca Makila 1K2 turboshafts, 1,492 kW (sea-level ISA) (2,001 shp) each
Denel AH-2 Rooivalk Performance
- Maximum speed: 309 km/h (193 mph)
- Range: 700 km combat; 1,130 km ferry (440 mi / 700 mi)
- Service ceiling: 6,000 m (20,000 ft)
- Rate of climb: 13.3 m/s (2,105 ft/min)
- Disc loading: lb/ft² (kg/m²)
- Power/mass: hp/lb (kW/kg)
Denel AH-2 Rooivalk Armament
- 1 x F2 20 mm cannon, 700 rounds
- 8 or 16 x Mokopa ZT-6 long-range anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM),
- 4 x MBDA Mistral air-to-air missiles,
- 36 or 72 x 70 mm folding fin aerial rockets (FFAR)
