PRETORIA, South Africa, April 5 (UPI) -- An upgraded Rooivalk combat support helicopter has been delivered to the South African air force by Denel Aviation and is ready for operational duties.
Denel, a South African company, said the handover followed rigorous testing and evaluation by the SAAF. Included in the testing were day and night operations, target identification and tracking, cannon firing and evaluation of the secure communications modes and self-protection features.
The aircraft's Mokopa anti-armor guided missile, developed by Denel Dynamics, was tested in January in life-fire exercises, Denel said.
New external fuel tanks increase the Rooivalk's self-deployment range by 50 percent.
The first five helicopters upgraded to the Mark 1 standard will be operational at 16 Squadron, which is based in Bloemfontein. The remaining six will be ready for deployment this year.
The Rooivalk entered its design phase in 1984 and had its first flight in 1990.
