|
Having shown a mock-up of its `Bateleur` Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for the first time in late 2004, Denel opted for the Dubai International airshow to display it abroad for the first time. A scale model of the `Bateleur` is to be seen at the airshow starting today (20 November).
According to Mr Jan Wessels, Denel Aerospace Systems General Manager, the initial development rationale with the `Bateleur` was to meet the anticipated South African Navy and South African Air Force`s Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) requirement.
"Since then several clients, notably also in the Middle East, have shown keen interest in our `Bateleur` MALE UAV.
With around 20 years` experience in operating UAVs, Denel is well-positioned to complement its existing capabilities with a MALE version," Jan Wessels said.
Denel sees the identified roles and missions of the design as:
-- Real-time day and night surveillance
-- Maritime, coastal and border patrol
-- Battlefield surveillance
-- Search and rescue operations
-- Military and paramilitary multi-sensor reconnaissance
The UAV was designed to cover South Africa`s vast search and rescue area of approximately 5-million square miles. The country`s 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone lies along approximately 3 000 kilometres of coastline.
Moreover, South Africa`s island dependencies, like Marion Island in the southern Indian Ocean, lies approximately 1 775 kilometres away.
For long-range operations, Denel`s existing ground control station (used for the Seeker 2 UAV, which is operational in several countries) plus a tactical ground station provides line-of-sight deployment of the `Bateleur` MALE UAV with an action radius of 750 kilometres and 12 to 18 hours over the target area.
Making use of the Ku-band satellite, the UAV will undertake over the horizon operations (OTH) to a range of around 3 500 kilometres.
Other products on display at the Dubai Airshow are Denel`s impressive range of missiles and precision-guided weapons, as well as optronic systems. These include the Ingwe and Mokopa anti-armour missiles, the Umkhonto surface-to-air missile, destined for the South African Navy`s new Meko-class corvettes and Finland`s Navy Squadron 2000 project, and the Umbani precision-guided modular bomb kit.
In August 2005 Denel held a client evaluation of its Ingwe anti-armour missile in the Gulf Region.
According to Mr Jan Wessels, the results once again confirmed the outstanding performance of Denel`s Ingwe missile that won the company the "Best Live Demonstration" award at the IDEX 2003 exhibition in the United Arab Emirates where it destroyed targets at ranges of around 5 000m.
The Ingwe is in full production and is being exported.
Denel`s optronic systems have also found ready export markets around the world. The latest success was the Belgian Federal Police (BFP) who awarded Denel a contract earlier this year for the supply of the widely used and proven LEO II-A3 Airborne Observation System.
The LEO product family has a proud tradition of supporting law enforcement operations in some twenty countries around the world. It is now successfully used on five continents - from South America to Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.
|
