Howard Gethin/LONDON
South Africa's Denel Aviation has joined with Anglo-French weapons group Matra BAe Dynamics to integrate the Mistral air-to-air missile into the weapons suite at the South African armed forces' Rooivalk attack helicopter.
The 18-month programme, which began in September, will include initial compatibility flight trials, integration with the Rooivalk's helmet-mounted sight and firing trials in the second phase. The configuration will comprise four Mistrals carried in two pairs on the outboard wing pylons.The Mistral's advanced multicell infrared seeker is claimed to be efficient against difficult targets such as agile helicopters performing "pop-up"manoeuvres against heavy background clutter.
The air-to-air variant is already in service on 30 French army Gazelle helicopters and has been selected for the service's new attack helicopter, the Eurocopter Tiger. The weapon will also be offered for export customers - the Rooivalk is a contender for attack helicopter competitions in Malaysia, Singapore and Turkey.
Source: Flight International
