Atlas Oryx

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The Atlas Oryx (named after the Oryx antelope) is a medium-sized utility helicopter ostensibly developed and manufactured by the Atlas Aircraft Corporation (now Denel Aeronautics) of South Africa. Its largest operator is the South African Air Force (SAAF), having been originally developed to fulfil their needs. Development of the Oryx commenced during the early 1980s, largely in response to the wartime demands of the Border War and the imposition of an arms embargo upon South Africa, which prevented the importing of foreign transport helicopters such as the Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma. Seeking to improve and augment the SAAF's existing fleet of rotorcraft, domestic industries examined means of improving the Puma helicopter. The Oryx is closely connected to the Denel Rooivalk attack helicopter, both rotorcraft being based on the Puma and development having been worked on in parallel around roughly the same time period. Following the conversion of a single Puma to the Oryx configuration, quantity...

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