6. Denel AH-2 Rooivalk ($40 million)
In the early 1980s, an African aircraft corporation called Atlas (now Denel Aviation) developed a program to create a capable attack helicopter for the South African Air Force (SAAF). Then this AH-2 Rooivalk was born.
It was supposed to be the best attack helicopter in the world. It was envisioned as an agile, highly sophisticated gunship helicopter that could defeat a T-55 tank. Unfortunately, limited budget and political issues prevented foreign customers from buying it. So, there were only twelve of them produced and it was stopped ten years ago.
Twelve of them were sold with at least $40 million price tag. And today, Denel is still on its way to reopen Rooivalk production line.
Rooivalk features two Turbomeca Makila 1K2 turboshaft engines, each developing 1,904 shp. They bring it more than six thousand meters high, 705 kilometers far, with 278 kph maximum speed.
While engine is supposed to keep the motor running, this engine was one of the reasons why Rooivalk stopped producing. Since this engine is also used by other competitors such as Puma and Eurocopter, there was a conflict of interest.
