As the Air Tractor agent for Africa, AG Aviation Group is seeing tremendous growth on the continent, with snowballing interest from governments and private companies for firefighting, agricultural and defence applications.
Henry Nel, AG Aviation’s Head of Department Technical, told defenceWeb that the company has been the Air Tractor agent across Africa for the last fifteen years and, over the last several years, has been offering more than just aircraft sales. AG Aviation provides pilot and technician training for a complete package—it has a full Air Tractor 802 flight simulator—the only one in Africa.
As business picks up after the COVID-19 pandemic, AG Aviation is marketing Air Tractor far and wide, for example, participating in the Nampo agricultural show and Aero South Africa exhibition. For the first time, the company took part in the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) show at Air Force Base Waterkloof in late September, displaying an Air Tractor 502XP. This is a high-performance version of the AT502 with an 867 hp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-140AG turboprop. Also showcased was the Kitplanes For Africa Explorer aircraft, which can be used for initial tailwheel training and fitted with the Ag Pilot X system to teach the basics of crop spraying. As the company focuses on training as a big part of selling new aircraft, AG Aviation provide complete Air Tractor Pilot and Engineer Training approved by Air Tractor International on all models. AG Aviation Group is also in partnership with Flight Safety International to provide Pratt & Whitney PT6A training at its Stellenbosch, South Africa facility.
With offices in Mauritius, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, and Nigeria, AG Aviation has sold over 100 Air Tractor aircraft in Africa and recently delivered aircraft to Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Algeria. The latter’s Tassili Travail Aerien acquired six for firefighting and agriculture. They also signed a five-year maintenance and parts contract.
AG Aviation is promoting the Air Tractor range for agriculture, firefighting, pest management (vector control), mining, logistics supply, oil spill response, and surveillance. Excalibur Mining, for example, operates 15 Air Tractor 502s for prospecting/geo surveying.
Air Tractors can be fitted with surveillance gimbals, whereas the AT-802U, introduced in 2009, is a dedicated military model that can carry a 3 600 kg payload on 11 hardpoints, including Mk 82 bombs, Hellfire missiles, M260 rocket launchers, and GAU-19 Gatling guns. The useful load is 4 000 kg after armour has been fitted.
According to Air Tractor, the AT-802U is protected by cockpit and engine armour, self-sealing fuel tanks, and armoured glass windscreens and windows. It can be fitted with various sensors, such as a retractable L-3 Wescam MX-15Di sensor pod, ROVER video downlink, satellite communications, and secure radios. A Pratt & Whitney PT6A engine provides 1 600 hp, giving a maximum speed of 394 km/h.
L3Harris Technologies has chosen the AT-802U as the platform for the Sky Warden multi-mission aircraft for the Armed Overwatch programme of the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM). Seventy-five aircraft are being built for SOCOM.
In Africa, the Egyptian Air Force operates a dozen AT-802U aircraft acquired from the UAE.
Also, for the military market, Air Tractor has developed an aerial refuelling solution for helicopters, the FuelBoss A2, based on the AT-802 platform. The FuelBoss carries 4 000 litres of fuel. “Slower speeds, reduced wake turbulence, and low entry cost on an AT-802 will expand the mission capability of any helicopter fleet with refuelling booms to disrupt traditional air-to-air helicopter refuelling,” the company said.
