South African helicopter manufacturer Denel is using Farnborough '98 to push a maritime variant of its Rooivalk attack helicopter.
A model of the new version, on display at the company's stand (Hall 1/E35) demonstrates a number of modifications from the basic aircraft.
These include maritime radar in place of the Rooivalk's chin mounted cannon, a visionics suite in the nose, air-to-air missiles on the wing tips and floatation gear on the forward sponsons as well as on the tail boom.
Denel says all the other Rooivalk features, such as its low detectability, are maintained in the maritime variant.
Trevor Ralston, the company's marketing manager, says: "Rooivalk's rugged and spacious airframe provides the optimal features in successfully integrating the aircraft into a maritime role."
For shipborne operations, manually operated folding rotor blades are provided and the craft is capable of carrying anti-ship missiles such as the Penguin and the Exocet.
Source: Flight Daily News
