We are back again with another Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa showcase. This time, we’ll be looking at them dakakadas set to be featured: SAAF Helicopters.
In case you’ve missed it, we’ve already covered several other units of this upcoming Nation Pack:
- We have put a spotlight on the all-important grunt: SADF Infantry. Read all about it here.
- We also took a look at the SADF Armor force, which you can read more about here.
- The flyboys claim all the glory in our SAAF Air Force article, which you can read here.
The Alouette III leads the way
While the South African Air Force (SAAF) experimented with a handful of Sikorsky machines, the first dedicated helicopter use was the Alouette III (and some Alouette II) in the 60s. The diminutive Sud Aviation rotary-wing aircraft saw immediate action in the Rhodesia conflict, where the helicopter demonstrated that although light, it was sturdy and mechanically reliable.
Over the years, South Africa bought over 120 Alouette IIIs, which saw extensive use, taking part in almost all of the military operations and conflicts of the era, including the Border War. The versatile helicopter was deployed in a variety of roles, from transport to recon and flying command posts. Not only that, the Alouette III was extensively modified into several unique designs, such as the K-Car.
The famous K-Car (standing for “kill-car”) was developed by the Rhodesian Air Force, featuring WW II-era German MG-151 20mm autocannons positioned in a side mounting, the same as the French Puma Pirate. The K-Car was extensively used by the Rhodesians during the Rhodesian Bush War, being deployed as command and fire support helicopter key in their Fireforce (vertical envelopment) air assaults.
South Africa’s workhorse
South Africa’s flying workhorse was another French helicopter: the dependable SA.330 Puma. The South Africans were one of the first export buyers of this transport helicopter in 1969. The Pumas were extensively used by the paratroopers, either for insertions or extractions after an airdrop.
Due to the stringent international arms embargo, the helicopter fleet couldn’t be upgraded to the more powerful Super Puma standard. Rather, through various clandestine ways, the required parts were acquired covertly. South Africa would pay for the upgrade of the Portuguese Army’s Puma fleet, while Aerospatiale would deliver Portugal their new engines PLUS the South African ones, which were then smuggled to South Africa through a front company in then-Zaire. Meanwhile, South Africa also picked up new Puma airframes from IAR in Romania, which produced the helicopter under license. Once rebuilt, the improved Puma was named the Oryx.
A second heavy lifter in SAAF’s arsenal was yet another French design, the SA.321 Super Frelon, which was also used as a paratrooper heavy transport or as a logistical helicopter.
Alpha and Beta Prototypes
Another heavily modified Alouette was the Atlas XH-1 Alpha prototype. While never intended to be mass-produced, the design paved the way for what eventually would become the Rooivalk attack helicopter (more about that one further below). The Atlas XH-1 Alpha was also armed with a 20mm gun under the chin, a more modern Vektor one this time, giving it a classic attack helicopter configuration. The rather unusually looking prototype might remind some of the old hands among you of a similar design flying around in the Blue Thunder action movie.
Like the Alouette III, the South Africans used the Puma as a test platform for an indigenous attack helicopter. Two Atlas XTP-1 Beta prototypes were built based on the SA.330, which could carry a heavy weapon load: the same 20mm gun as the XH-1 Alpha, as well as 64mm rocket pods and either eight ZT3A2 Ingwe anti-tank missiles or two anti-aircraft missiles.
Attack Helicopters
After these prototypes, the SAAF finally managed to get their hands on their own rotary-winged crown jewel: the Rooivalk attack helicopter. This entirely domestic design benefited from the years of hands-on battlefield experience and the experiments on the XH-1 and XTP-1 testbeds.
Its performance in terms of mobility and firepower placed it in the same category as the Apache, Tiger, or Ka-50. Rooivalk’s armament was roughly similar to the one tested on the XTP-1: a 20mm gun, 64mm rockets, but with the difference of carrying both ZT3A2 AT missiles and smaller Mistral AA missiles.
For a nation that never had designed a helicopter before, the Rooivalk was a pretty good first try. Despite flying in 1990, the Rooivalk will be considered a prototype in-game, with the attack helicopter’s delayed entry and the end of the Cold War and South Africa’s Apartheid regime.
What will the South Africa Nation Pack bring?
Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa will feature:
- Close to 90 new SADF units, including 20 brand-new vehicle models, as well as many new variants. All feature new Afrikaans and South African-accented English voice-overs, aie boet!
- These include the ubiquitous Casspir and Ratel APCs (in numerous variants, from IFV, recon, command, mortar, and even SAM), the Rooikat wheeled tank (including variants and prototypes), Eland (license-produced French AML), Cactus (French Crotale), the only tracked Olifant MBT, many armed variants of locally made SAMIL trucks (Ystervark and Bosvark SPAAG, Valkiri and Bateleur MLRS), to the iconic G6 Renoster self-propelled howitzer.
- The Air Force includes old Buccaneer[/], [b]Vampire and Impala as close-air support, and several French Mirage variants and the locally modified Cheetah as fighter and multirole aircraft. Furthermore, you will find the Atlas Carver prototype, the first full South African prototype plane design (which never left the drawing board).
- Helicopters include the French Alouette III, Puma, Super Frelon and their locally produced versions and prototypes such as the K-Car, Oryx and XTP-1 Beta. You’ll also be able to deploy South Africa’s very own attack helicopter design, the badass-looking Rooivalk.
- Infantry will include Bokkop regular riflemen, Parabat paratroopers, SASF special forces, and many more units such as militia, recon, MANPADS, engineers. You will find Portuguese-speaking Angolan UNITA squads, as well as SADF’s own 32 Battalion (the Buffalos), as veteran light infantry formation.
- SADF weaponry features imported or locally built R1 and R4 rifles, SS-77 and Mini-SS MG, LRAC and APILAS LAW, but also the more original HK-21, FT5, Inflict and, of course, the iconic Y2 grenade-launcher and NTW-20.
What happens next?
That’s it. We will be back in two weeks.
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