Atlas Oryx

All you want to know about Atlas Oryx

Oryx
Oryx M2
Role	Utility helicopter
Manufacturer	Atlas Aircraft Corporation
Status	Active service
Primary user	South African Air Force
Developed from	Aerospatiale Puma
Variants	Denel AH-2 Rooivalk

The Atlas Oryx (named after the Oryx antelope) is a medium-sized utility helicopter manufactured by the Atlas Aircraft Corporation (now Denel Aerospace Systems) of South Africa.

1 Design and development
- 1.1 Mid Life Upgrade
2 Variants
3 Operators
4 Specifications
5 References
6 See also

Design and development

It is an upgraded and remanufactured version of the Aerospatiale Puma, equivalent to the Eurocopter Super Puma, and offers a performance improvement over the original, in addition to cutting the operating costs by 25 to 30%.

The Oryx is currently in service with several squadrons of the South African Air Force, with about 44 being available.

It can carry up to 20 fully equipped troops or 6 wounded on stretchers with 4 attendants or 3,000 kg freight carried in the cabin or 4,500 kg freight on an external sling.

Most Oryx are equipped with a 50m hydraulic hoist, rated for up to 2 personnel, for use in rescue operations. Additionally a large metal A-frame structure can be fitted in the cargo bay which allows up to 4 personnel to abseil from the aircraft simultaneously. Oryx operating from coastal squadrons are fitted with emergency flotation gear on the sponsons and nose as illustrated in the photograph accompanying this article.

Mid Life Upgrade

In 2006 the SAAF initiated a mid life upgrade for 35 Oryx helicopters to extend their service life to the 2015 - 2020 timeframe.^{[citation needed]} Due to budgetary restrictions, the upgrade will be limited to airframe life extensions, with a limited communications and navigation upgrade.^{[citation needed]} It was initially planned to do a full glass cockpit upgrade.^{[citation needed]}

Variants

There is an electronic warfare (stand-off communications jamming/radar jamming) version of the Oryx that is equipped with the Grinaker Systems Technologies (GST) GSY 1501 jamming system, among others.

Two Oryx helicopters have also been modified for operations in the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic, for which they have been painted in the red and white colour scheme as illustrated in the photograph accompanying this article. These two aircraft have been given the designation of Oryx M2. One of the M2 Oryx helicopters was written off subsequent to a crash landing in July 2004.

Operators

South Africa

South African Air Force

Specifications

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General characteristics

Crew: Three
Capacity: 20 fully-equipped troops
Length: 15.45 m (50 ft 8 in)
Rotor diameter: 15.6 m (51 ft 2 in)
Height: 5.14 m (16 ft 10 in)
Empty weight: 3,600 kg (7,920 lb)
Loaded weight: 6,000 kg (13,200 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 8,000 kg (17,600 lb)
Powerplant: 2× Turbomeca Makila IA1 turboshaft engines, 1,400 kW (1,877 shp) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 306 km/h (188 mph, 165 kts)
Service ceiling 7,162 m (23,500 ft)
Rate of climb: 915 m/min (3,000 ft/m)
Combat range (internal fuel): 303 nm (561 km, 346 mi)
Ferry range (external fuel): 1,080 nm (2,000 km, 1,234 mi)

Armament

2 × door-mounted 7.62 mm machine guns (optional)

References

v • d • e South African Air Force

	Squadrons	2 · 15 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 19 · 21 · 22 · 28 · 35 · 41 · 44 · 60 · 68 Air School · 80 Air Navigation School · 85 Combat Flying School · 87 Helicopter Flying School · Central Flying School · Test Flight and Development Centre

	Bases	AFB Bloemspruit · AFB Durban · AFB Hoedspruit · AFB Langebaanweg · AFB Makhado · AFB Overberg · AFB Waterkloof · AFB Ysterplaat

	Aircraft	Gripen · Hawk · PC-7 · Oryx · Rooivalk · BK 117 · A109 · Super Lynx · C-130 Hercules · C-47 Dakota · 208 Caravan · King Air · PC-12 · 185 Skywagon · C-212 Aviocar · CN-235 · 737 BBJ · Falcon 900 · Falcon 50 · Citation II

	Related	South African Air Force Museum · Military history of South Africa

Website: www.af.mil.za