Rooivalk Attack Helicopter - South African Gunship 

It's just sad that a company like Denel that developed this helicopter is bankrupt due to coruption

South Africa gets put aside a lot but it’s interesting to find out they had the first MRAP designs

This chopper was extensively used in combat support operations in the Congo to great effect. Earned a lot of respect. Hi from 🇿🇦

The US did not like the Rooivalk sold to their clients.Threatened sanctions. The helmet visor sights was ahead of its time.

just had to mention this! It is actually intended for long range missions as it has double the fuel capacity of the Apache whilst only using internal fuel tanks! Also, it is the first AH in the world that can do a full backflip!

As a South African Citizen I want to congratulate your enunciation of the names. Brilliantly said.

Matsimus thank you hello from South Africa

I would like to add some info in connection with the avionics and targeting systems of the Rooivalk. There was some issues raised with avionics age in 2008 and some upgrades followed between 2009 and 2011. Please keep in mind that the Rooivalk development started in 1984 with the first prototype flying in 1990/1991 and the second one (EDM) in 1993. The third prototype followed in around 1996/7 and this was also brought up to the pre-production std. The production order was finally received in 1999 and the production aircraft delivered between 2001 and 2004/5. See this in comparison with the Apache, where most of the C/D versions were already delivered by middle to late 1990. Thus one can see that the Rooivalk utilized military tech from the late 1990’s while the Apache C/D were mostly constructed with military tech from late 80’s and early 90’s. Avionics: The dual cockpits have two large colour multi-function displays. These displays are fully inter-operable thus capable of displaying flight info, navigation data (moving terrain map), mission info and data, target data and video, weapon system info and ordinance status as well as radio and communication info. There is also full thread identification and status displays. These displays are all flat screen colour LCD’s. TDATS: Target detection/acquisition and tracking system - This comprises a fully stabilized optical day camera and FLIR system, incorporating Laser range finder and designator, thus providing full day and night operation capability. This system is mainly controlled by the WSO in the front cockpit although the system can be slaved to the pilot or WSO’s helmet mounted sights. These HMD/S are binocular systems, displaying both flight info, weapon systems and target simbology with TDATS video overlay. The TDATS has target identification and tracking functions and can be used to guide missiles and canon onto the target. Night vision: There is also a separate night vision stabilized sight on the top of the nose of the helicopter and this can also be slaved to pilot’s helmet. This sight’s HD-video imagery is displayed on the pilot’s helmet’s visor super-imposed over the flight simbology. The flight controls are fully HOTAS and there is a digital autopilot with altitude hold, hover hold and nav and heading hold. Both front and back cockpits can fly the aircraft. The communication system is both audio and video data capable. The mission plan can be loaded into the aircraft by means of a cartridge system holding target info, nav info with flight plan with mission set-points and communication info.

Not intended for long range missions like the Apache? It has a radius of 740 km, compared to 400 km for the Apache! And it carries an equal number of ATGM's.

May not be the worlds best, but we love our Rooivalk. At the annual airshow this get the biggest cheer next to Gripen.

Ah, Neal Ellis... one of the greatest gunship pilots ever! From RhAF- SAAF- EO, USAF consultant. This is the guy who almost single handedly took out the RUF from Sierra Leone with EO! If he had a hand in this, then its probably a damn good platform. Also, I understand that it has very capable anti-armour missiles but larger militaries refused to supply their missiles for this chopper and hence international sales were pretty bad for this bird...

Thanks for featuring the Rooivalk! I am soooo proud to be South African! I really love your reviews!

im from south africa thanks for covering this. im very proud of my our military .Unfortunately the standards of our military has dramticaly dropped ,but back in the days it was a formidable force armed with some of the best vehicles and arms in the world,I live in a generation where everyones fathers was drafted into the military for a minimum of 2 years , so we all grew up with war stories of the border war, so thank you again for trying to give our military the recognition it deserves.....ps the rooikat was so good even britain bought them , thus you can find it in war thunder under the british tech tree

The Mokopa is primarily for anti-tank warfare. The actual max range is 12km, a lot further than the Hellfire. It is because we keep our equipment low key, people tend to underestimate it.

This was actually a good vid on the Rooivalk. fair opinion and well made. Thank you Matsimus. Keep up the good work and greetings from South Africa. We are damn proud of this bird. :)

What an amazing aircraft! One of my favourite attack helicopters.

I am incredibly proud of my people and my country for their innovation and ability to improvise and adapt. It's a tragedy to see how swiftly corruption at the hands of an inept government has turned our country into a weak and sad state of affairs.

When launched in 1990, this aircraft was surely equal to the Apache of that generation! Development continued throughout the 1980s, and the intial design was based on the Puma, of which South Africa operated en masse. If this aircraft was launched during the 1980s, many more examples would have been built due to the size of the Defence budget at that time. The SADF of the 1970's & 1980s was considered one of the best in the world - the equal of Israel, UK and US (In terms of man for man and equipment comparisons - Obviously could not compete with US Volume...nor could the UK). You might want to do some research into the South African Border War/Angolan Civil War. It was the largest conflict of the Cold War after Vietnam and Afghanistan. South Africa ensured it became Cuba's Vietnam. The equipment designed and built in South Africa during that time period is still amongst the best in the world today - Especially the G5/G6 155 Howitzer, Rooikat AFV, Ratel ICV/AFV, signals equipment as well as a few other things. If you ever research/do vids on Counter-Insurgency and Semi-conventional operations that would be cool. You wouldnt have to look further than the Rhodesian or South African experience. Tactics, Vehicles etc are still revered and learnt from years later.

The South Africans created the first Ambushed Resistant Vehicles also called MRAPs.

i'm personally fascinated by the south african military their vehicles and combat doctrine are pretty interesting

I saw one of these a few weeks ago at Langabaan Weg Airforce Base. The manoeuvrability of it is very impressive when you see it in person.

I do believe that, unlike what was said in the video, Rooivalk has fly-by-wire which allows the pilot and the WOS to be in either cockpit. One of my colleagues was part of the Rooivalk project, while I worked with the Rooivalk design team at Denel on their UAV's propeller as a student.

certainly would like to see some more south-african metal !

Matt, there's also Umkhonto (south african)SAM-system which i've heard is quite good!

Rooivalk (red falcon) was built coz of sanctions and we were young engineers and enjoyed great careers in the '80s

Hi Matsimus love seeing this as a South African !!! I traveled to Canada earlier this month and absolutely loved it , beautiful country !! Love the content please keep it up !!! And well done with the pronunciation

It's interesting to note that the HMD used on the JAS39 Gripen and Eurofighter Typhoon are developed and manufactured by Denel Optronics, the South African company that originally made them.

This helicopter is a case study how ineffective sanctions are.

I can't believe you've missed RSA's defence sector forget the main battle tank. Mraps are what South Africa does best, sadly BAE land systems get the credit.

love these southern african/dutch names rooi = red valk= falcon

You will never believe this but my father was one of the designers of the RooiValk, and he was also involved in testing it

One of the few helicopters that can fly inverted, that is it can do both barrel and victory rolls.

South Africa is still able to produce their own designs. Interesting.

South Africa make some of the best weapons and systems I've ever seen.. had a lot of practice in Angola.. with the Cubans

Nice video! Was hoping you would start doing videos about SADF weapons. Cant wait for the Olifant - also check out Ratel, rooikat and G6 when you get the chance.

@12:00 don't forget how the Hinds (Mi-24) with poor accuracy couldn't handle that no big deal anti aircraft gun in low visibility, it was in DRC at the Rwanda boarder against M23 rebels. Those 2 helicopters cooled that entire region as most rebels fled and led to immediate surrender. Rooivalk became the choice attack helicopter for UN chiefs in the region. Mokopa is better than hellfire, a-darter is 5th gen air to air, world-class helmet aiming system, simplified feild maintenance and she is agile, powerful precise and a high altitude machine that's not afraid of dust. Thank the Americans who interfered as they saw a threat to apache sales and the French for refusing to supply gearboxes and deny interested countries a superior product to the troubled Tiger, those who really didn't want the tigre ended up with apache.

During early 1980's I performed emergency standby for the Rooivalk while it underwent testing at the old Jan Smuts Airport on rwy 03L / 15 Atlas intersection. The maneuvers those pilots pulled were amazing, they dubbed it as SA's version of Airwolf.

Hi there, thank you so much for the awesome video. I served in the SANDF at School of Armour at Tempe and would like to add that the Rooivalk is able and has flown inverted and can do a barrel roll also. Just an interesting info for you

5:34 say it with me matsimus, AIR-OH-SPAY-SHE-AHL POO-MUH

I was on the production line of the brother of the Rooifalk the Oryx. Love the video! Thanks

I still believe tht it could be a good combat opponent to AH-64 Apache

I am no expert but did see one of these up close at a local airfield. The power and agility in the air was very impressive - I would NOT like to be among ground troops having to face up against these machines!!

South Africa also held nuclear warheads and conducted their own tests. They did a great deal under the radar.

I had the privilege of visiting the missile test range when they were testing the Mokopa off of a mock fuselage. I even got to play with the optical missile tracking unit. Amazing to experience.

Saw a guy this year at the airshow doing low speed maneuvers flawlessly... Also you didn't talk about the fact it's armoured... And pilots who've flown a range of attack helicopters, love it, they love its speed and maneuverability... Plus this thing is huge, only attack helicopter bigger than it is the hind

Do you know the way bruddah!.

My late friends father was the head engineer for the electrical layout of this copter, his dad was the lead engineer for the grippen technology in SA as well.

Thanks a 1 000 000 for giveing us some spotlight.

That ending flyby was amazing!

Maybe what you did not know, the USAF refused to display their AH64-Apache at any airshow where the Rooivalk was in operation. This was mainly due to the aerobatic capability of this helicopter that can doe the loop and barrel roll at very low altitudes. Also, the one minor military credit you spoke of ended a 10-year civil war in one encounter with the Rooivalk, the rebels went to the negotiating table because of the damage this one attack.

Britian still builds stuff matimus, but most of it is jointly developed with Europe rather than bought. The f35 is also another example of joint development. And a lot of our ground vehicles is still made here.

Awe mense! have seen this beast at many a air show and those pilots make that thing flick and flack its impressive A.F to see. Peace from South Africa

Man how my people have messed everything up, I am just ashamed at how things turned out. But with that said I am very proud of this achievement for my country in part.

Australia and Turkey (even the UK) were very interested in this bird... but bigger companies played dirty.

Great video Matsimus! Your commentary, as well as your pronunciation is spot-on!

Proud to say my grandfather was involved with the design and building of the rooivalk in his time at Denel

It also was able to operate optimal in desserts. their air systems were pretty good for its time compared to other helicopters.

Small note - Rooivalk is actually one of the Afrikaans names for the Rock Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus - also known as the kransvalk) - this is what you learn when your in-laws are Afrikaans and also birdwatchers.

Looking forwards more videos on SA equipment

My country could have obtained these back then. Now we'll only get a Little Bird as our "Attack Helicopter"

SA went up against the soviet union for more than 2 dekades and never lost a large conflict.

Thanx Mat! From SA. Plz do review the G6 arty gun. You'll love it!

Interesting story, that guy Neal Ellis basically saved Freetown in Sierra Leon with a Mi-24 after EO had to pull out and around the time the UN were making a bigger mess of the place. Also worked as merc pilot in Kosovo or some place close to that when the Siege of Sarajevo was on, might have been for the Coats.

Was given a special tour of Denel Aviation, as a family friend was one of the lead designers of the rooivalk. I asked if I could sit in it, and they said no, because if I pushed a wrong button I could potentially shoot a missile! Had to settle with a photo next to it. If I recall the rooivalk was the first heli that could do a full back flip. Cognisance needs to be also be given, that the design of the heli was intended to be simple and easy to work on in the field. The projected war that it was intended to fight in, was very far from logistical bases, high temp and high dust environments.

The Rooivalk is the best attack helicopter platform in the world. There's many things to prove this. Not only does it boast the speed record of any attack helicopter but also its special integrated transmission system which was also designed in South Africa allows this helicopter to fly upside down. drastically increasing the amount of moves its capable of and the only helicopter with this capability in the world. The heads up display system is the same one the Apache uses but upgraded because America actually bought that system from South Africa. That's right... and the only thing that might give the Apache a advantage over the Rooivalk is the Longbow system developed in Britain. If you really look into it you will find that this is the best in the world and its super cheap to maintain which also gives it a advantage in warfare. The flexibility of this platform is amazing.

Always pleasantly surprised by your video production values and the density of entertaining and informative content!

Woah this seems pretty cool, not to be racist but I’m surprised to see such impressive and awesome gear designed and built by an African nation! Well done South Africa, much respect

Appreciate this video mate. Keep up the good work.

Hi Matsimus. Yes, the company Dinel that designed and built the Rooivalk is facing bankruptcy. Denel used to be one of the best weapons manufacturers in the world. They designed and built the Cheetah fighter plane to combat the MIG 23 up to 27. The Olifant tank was the biggest, heaviest and fastest tank built for its era. The G5 canon they built could shoot a projectile with pin point accuracy up to 45 Km(28miles). They build the Nyala anti riot armoired vehicle, the Ratel infantry vehicle, the Rooikat reconnaissance vehicle and many more. Such a pity that such a strong company is brought down to its knees by corruption. Corruption is the biggest drug in Africa. Thank you for a good and informative channel. Ps. Dinel was formed from a conjunction of companies eg. grinigar, littleton engenering and others.

Always was underrated, the Rooivalk was. T-129 ATAK please! :)

hmm, a very splendid Helicopter i would say! love your video's Bud! keep up the intresting stuff!

For the people not from South Africa, the sad part of this is that it was probably designed more than 30 years ago by skilled people who where removed from there jobs just because thy where white before it was fully developed. And like most things In South Africa this company is now going under. God help us as the rest of the world has turned a blind eye on what's happening in South Africa.

I need this to get me to work every morning.

Can you do a review on the South African defence force buffalo

Was waiting for you to outline to the world that the Rooivalk was the only Helicopter in its time able to do a backflip, more so The Mighty Mokopa Missile could travel further than the Hellfire, apparently the Rooivalk could shoot the Blackhawk without the USAF seeing it 😊

Lovely and thanks for giving us this information

We (SA) developed the worlds first shoot and forget helmets also the helmet gun connection where the gun goes where the gunner/pilot looks

This for the aussies? Seems to cope better with hot weather than Tiger or Apache.

That clip at the end... looks like from game or something, flying that low but no cloud of dust when flying over on that kind of soil ground.

Wow, your Rooivalk pronunciation is very good! Excellent actually.

You are a very cool guy who speaks a very wise language. The rooivalk or red hawk is old now. In the Southern African theatre it is top, however in the world it is getting old. As a SA boy she was amazing when she came out into the world. Just sad my darling child didn't grow up.

It's hard to see what has happened to the army in 3 years but it was a very good video thank you for informing me more about the history of South Africa

This thing looks awesome and nasty, like a Hind mutated. So much good innovation coming from the hardy Boer's down there. They're being culled as we speak.

Great video. Keep em coming.

WHAT I EXPECT TECH WISE VERY GOOD WORK LOVE IT

3:37 if you cringe over these kinds of arms commercials, look at the Rafael AeroIndia promo from 2009. That may also probably be the reason why india cancelled the Spike ATGM deal: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ktQOLO4U5iQ.html (WTF?!)

Saw these on display and in a "fake" engagement in 2018 at Waterkloof AB. Let me tell you, I would not want to be on the receiving end of a pissed off Rooivalk. As a fear inducing weapon, I would rather face a tank.

I experienced that 1990 prototype as a SAAF Air Defence Gunner operating a ZU- 23-2 cannon. We had HAG Helicopter Admin Group refuelling temp base set up Air defence was 23 mm guns. First over was the Impala jets in ground attack, Respect to the pilot in lighting up his lights and dropping the under cart, Flew past dropped a wing and gave a salute. We were jumping up and down. Video gun cam was a confirmation. Later was the Rooivalk.Smoked us. That helicopter can hide bushes and trees, had a pole sticking out thr front of it painted red and white. Awesome machine.

Thank you for saying it right

Proudly South African

can you do the Ratel series and the South African Copy of the PKM Vektor LMG

GOOD VIDEO but also believe the Rooivalk has special air filters that make it probably the only AH that can land and take off in the fine red sand/dust we have over here in the deserts :)

It is sad that Canada doesn't design our own weapons anymore...

My most favorite aircraft ever!

It was the first helicopter to be able to do a backflip, soooo.... boom

Could you do SADF artillery G5 or G6?

Great stuff, Matsimus! I can't wait for the Olifant video.

Yes the Rooivalk is our Pride

I would not be too quick and simply describe it as not "spectacular". Few people remember it was shortlisted by the MOD for the British attack helicopter program , and was the actual preferred platform of the British test pilots. But the MOD wanted the Hellfire missile and the Americans refused to drop arms sanctions against SA at that time , so that precluded any integration onto the Rooivalk. Add to the fact that Turbomeca (the Rooivalk engine maker , now Eurocopter) warned possible buyers that future support was not guaranteed as the Rooivalk was direct competition to the Tiger. And o the irony , as the current British Apache's uses licensed Turbomeca engines , yep the same Apache's that was shooting itself down using it's own Hellfire missiles.... That being said , the Rooivalk program was still in it's infancy , and would still take many years to mature , and is still maturing.

I love how the comment section is so much more informative than the actual video 😂 Nice footage though