South Africa: Continent's largest aerospace and defence exhibition ends

The 12th edition of Africa's largest aerospace and defense exhibition and air show which ended Sunday (Sep. 22) in South Africa drew aviation experts, companies and enthusiasts.

Hundreds of attendees braved the cold weather to catch a glimpse of impressive displays, get up close to aircrafts and see the latest aviation tech.

A regular attraction at tech shows is Spot the robotic dog. Cape Town-based company Deep Tech Solutions thought outside the box to suggest a different use of the robot.

“Speaking about technology and also man's best friend, some of the work we're doing with Spot the robot dog from Boston Dynamics, is to be able to help people to do advanced remote inspections. If you think about search and rescue efforts, which we see a lot in the mining sector, but also in kind of disaster management types, where the Army also gets involved heavily, we need to be able to identify what risks are available in the area, but also be able to sometimes actually give some comfort to some of the victims that there is help coming,” explains Rethabile Letlala, a Deep Tech Solutions representative.

Next generation weapons were on display too.

The 5-day Africa Aerospace and Defence Trade and Exhibition brought together a range of key local and international guests looking for opportunities in South Africa’s defence industry.

Martin Venter of ECM Technologies says the event is a global draw.

“I think what makes AAD (Africa Aerospace and Defence) unique is the fact that it's a South African grown initiative and it brings international communities together. I mean, we've got India, we've got the US, we've got UK. Everybody comes together and showcases what they've got to offer. And it's good to see,” he said.

Chinese hardware had a larger presence at this year’s air show, which usually has a wider contingent of American arms, but the US military withdrew from the event.

The next edition will be held in 2026.