African Aerospace and Defence's (AAD's) air show is on everyone's lips after this past weekend's impressive display of skill, but the exhibition's story began decades before the first jet took to the Waterkloof skies. media update considers how AAD evolved from a simple air show into a major civil and military industry event.
Watching fighter jets tear through the sky and helicopters perform complicated manoeuvres is undeniably entertaining… but have you ever wondered why a defence exhibition, co-hosted by our military no less, puts in so much effort for the public's amusement? Did the Air Force just up and decide to perform for the public on one random Sunday?
Not exactly. As we well know, in public relations, there's always a story.
Where It All Started
I'm of course talking about the weekend's escapades at the Air Force Base in Waterkloof. The AAD Exhibition's roots can be traced to October 1975, where Commercial Aviation Association of Southern Africa (CAASA) and World Airnews launched "Aviation Africa" at Lanseria Airport.
From the outset, it was designed as two events in one: an indoor trade exhibition where companies could showcase aircrafts and strike deals, and a public air show where the general population were given the opportunity to experience a close-up of international aircraft.
Gaining Altitude
The event grew steadily through the 80's and 90's, but the year 1995 proved to be pivotal. A year after Apartheid's abolition, the Aerospace, Maritime and Defence Industries Association (AMD) organised the SAAF ‘75 Expo, marking the 75th anniversary of the South African Air Force — the second oldest in the world.
The expo was a runaway success, and it laid bare the public's interest for a properly expanded military exhibition alongside the civilian air show. CAASA and AMD answered that demand in 1998, joining forces to relaunch the event as "Aerospace Africa" and relocating it to Air Force Base Waterkloof, attracting 254 trade exhibitors from 21 countries.
When Three Became One
Success breeds more success and by 2000 a third party player wanted in, a dedicated biennial defence show called the Defence Exhibition of South Africa (DEXSA).
So, instead of competing, Aerospace Africa and DEXSA combined into a single event — Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD). It was jointly hosted by AMD, the Armaments Corporation of South Africa (Armscor) and CAASA, with backing from the Department of Defence and the Department of Trade and Industry.
This merger consolidated a civil aviation trade show with a dedicated military exhibition into one event, producing what organisers at the time called, "the most comprehensive civil and military aerospace and defence exhibition on the African continent".
And so, AAD took shape when three separate interest groups realised that combining their platforms could forge something far better (and bigger) than three events operating independently.
What It Looks Like Today
That founding logic still informs AAD's structure. AAD 2026 was held at the Air Force Base in Waterkloof, running over five days in a deliberately split format, three trade-only days for industry and delegations, followed by two open-to-the-public days built around the air show.
While confirmed numbers have yet to be shared, organisers expected more than 30 000 visitors and dignitaries from over 30 countries, with the 287 exhibitors from 33 nations confirmed. 12 000 learners were also expected to attend, allowing young South Africans a direct look at career paths in engineering, aviation and defence technology.
Evidently, AAD is then simultaneously a space for industry business, a showcase of national and international capability, and a public-facing introduction to an industry most people know little about. That combination gives the exhibition a way to engage audiences and create opportunities for relationships to form, so greater public understanding and trust can develop.
That's the story behind AAD: one that's 50 years in the making and informed by an industry that understood long before this past weekend that capability means little if nobody is paying attention.
Did you find this article insightful? Let us know in the comments section below.
*Image courtesy of Facebook and Canva
**Information sourced from The Citizen, Rekord, George Herald, AAD Expo and Booth Exhibits