The Air Force of Zimbabwe has been invited to this year’s Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) exhibition at Air Force Base Waterkloof in South Africa, where the United States Air Force will also be in attendance.
This was revealed during an AAD buildup event hosted at Waterkloof on 15 July (67 days until AAD 2022), which also witnessed a youth development initiative by the organisers to coincide with Mandela Day (18 July) and Nelson Mandela International Day outreach initiatives.
The Air Force of Zambia completes the list of African air forces invited to the AAD 2022 Expo.
The AAD is Africa’s only aerospace and defence expo that combines both a trade exhibition and an air show. The event is hosted over a period of five days, and this year’s expo runs from 21 to 25 September.
The five days involve a 3-day trade exhibition which showcases air, sea and land defence technologies, including a static aircraft display. It is open to media and trade visitors only.
There is also a 2-day air show, which is a live demonstration of global aircraft and is also open to media, trade and general public visitors.
Rated amongst the top six exhibitions in the world, the AAD Expo boasts more than 450 participating companies in the defence and aerospace industries, from over 30 countries.
AAD brings together the largest gathering of industry players in aerospace and defence (manufacturers and innovators) and buyers (high-level international delegations, Defence Chiefs of Arms and senior procurement officers).
Meanwhile, unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, will have a high profile at this year’s AAD exhibition, as they will for the first time be allowed to fly during the trade show. Tje drones show is set for over the final two days of AAD.
Speaking at the AAD buildup event, Deputy Chief of the South African Air Force, Major General Innocent Buthelezi said that the world has changed a lot since the last AAD in 2018 but some things have remained the same, such as aerospace and defence being vital triggers for many economies around the world to grow and survive.
“We found that countries and governments still need world class capabilities, technologies and equipment to protect and secure the sovereignty of borders and safeguard the lives of people at all costs.”
The AAD organisers, he said, are not ignoring the momentum growing in the use of military and commercial UAVs, and thus for the first time in the history of AAD, “we have secured permission for use of UAVs during the show. This is indeed a milestone for AAD.”
The AAD Expo is managed through a partnership between four South African State-owned entities: Department of Defence and Military Veterans (DOD), Armaments Corporation of South Africa SOC Ltd (Armscor), South African Aerospace Maritime and Defence Industries Association (AMD), and the Commercial Aviation Association of Southern Africa (CAASA).
