HENSOLDT South Africa has officially partnered with the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) 2026 Conference as a key sponsor, reinforcing the company’s ongoing commitment to driving indigenous technological development and defence innovation across the African continent.
Running alongside the biennial exhibition from 16 to 18 September 2026 at Air Force Base Waterkloof in Centurion, the conference will convene senior military commanders, government officials, industry executives, researchers and technology experts under the theme “Africa’s Future Defence: Trends, Innovation and Opportunities.”
Beyond its sponsorship, HENSOLDT South Africa will deliver specialist domain expertise during the formal programme through senior leadership from HENSOLDT GEW. On Wednesday, 16 September, Ryno van Staden, Head of Sales and Marketing at HENSOLDT GEW, alongside Wimpie van den Berg, Land EW Product Portfolio and Strategy Manager, will deliver a joint keynote titled:
“The future of land EW: Enabling spectrum dominance in multi-domain operations.”
As modern battlefields grow increasingly contested, congested and electronically transparent, dominance across the electromagnetic spectrum has become a vital operational prerequisite. The presentation will analyze how land-based electronic warfare is shifting from isolated tactical applications into a unified, network-centric enabler for joint multi-domain operations. Key focus areas will include the deployment of software-defined architectures, artificial intelligence and automated spectrum management to process, analyze and neutralize dynamic threats at machine speed.
DefenceWeb editor Guy Martin welcomed the partnership, stating that HENSOLDT South Africa’s extensive local manufacturing base, advanced systems integration capabilities and global presence make the organisation an invaluable contributor to continental security dialogues.
The three-day conference curriculum is structured into core operational themes:
- Day One (16 September): The Future of Warfare
- Day Two (17 September): African Defence Industry Showcase
- Day Three (18 September): Commercial and Military Aviation
Delegates attending the conference will gain access to technical sessions, speaker panels, executive networking platforms and the broader AAD 2026 exhibition grounds. Both full three-day and single-day delegate registrations are currently open through official AAD ticketing channels.
