South African National Defence Force (SANDF)

Citation :

South African Air Force to solo first Gripen pilots

The South African Air Force (SAAF) will on Thursday present the first locally qualified Saab Gripen fighter pilots during a solo flying event to be held at Air Force Base Makhado. The four pilots, three males (black, Indian and white) and a first-ever SAAF female Gripen fighter pilot (white), successfully completed the type Operational Conversion Course (OCC).

The SAAF in a statement says the “achievement is a milestone in the history of South Africa, the SANDF and the SAAF as this is the first OCC to be presented by local SAAF pilot instructors from 2 Squadron... The four newly qualified Gripen fighter pilots will fly solo to showcase the SAAF’s combat readiness in ensuring that the airspace over the Republic of South Africa, its citizens and its sovereignty are protected.”

The South African government, on behalf of the Air Force ordered 28 Saab Gripen C & D advanced light fighter aircraft in 1999 as part of a “strategic defence package”. The Gripen were acquired as a package with 24 BAE Systems Hawk Mk120 lead-in fighter trainers. At the time Treasury put the figure for the two types combined at R15.772 billion. Only in 2007 did separate figures emerge: R7.2 billion for the Hawk and R19.908 billion for Gripen, making for a combined R27.01 billion, a considerable increase over the original figure.

The first four Project Ukhozi two-seat SAAF Gripen D were delivered on September 17, 2008 during the opening ceremony of that year's Africa Aerospace and Defence exhibition. Gripen D deliveries ended in July 2009 and the first two Gripen C arrive in South Africa on February 11, 2010. The SAAF currently has nine D and six C-model aircraft. Delivery of the last aircraft is expected in 2012. he SAAF will then have 26 of the type, having trimmed two from its order.

The SAAF was the aircraft's first export customer and second user after the Swedish Air Force. Since the fighter has been adopted by the Czech and Hungarian air forces and ordered by the Royal Thai Air Force.

Although still in project phase an not an operational system, the Gripen conducted about half the 51 aircraft intercepts conducted during the June/July soccer world cup were conducted by the type. he SAAF deployed 11 of the available Gripen during the month-long tournament as well as 12 of 24 BAE Systems Hawk lead-in fighter trainers.

Air Force director fighters, Brigadier General John Bayne, told a Gripen briefing at the SAAB chalet at Africa Aerospace & Defence 2010 exhibition that some 347 combat air patrols (CAP) were flown to secure all 64 games. In a similar briefing in August, Major General Les Lombard, the General Officer Commanding the Air Force Command Post said with “that grouping of aircraft we could cater for various threats, be it from paragliders right up to the possibility of hijacked airliners.”

For this purpose the Gripen were allocated 276 flying hours and the Hawks 279. Bayne says the five two-seat Gripen D were 98% reliable and the six single-seat Gripen C 89%. The Hawk was 98% reliable. At any given time 8.95 of the 11 Gripen were available and 11.6 of the Hawk. Maintainability was 89% for Gripen and 92% for Hawk. Bayne observed that the figures for Gripen would have been higher had it been an operational system.


(Courtesy by defenceWeb; First published at http://goo.gl/du7y)

defpro

Citation :

First Saab Gripen Female pilot



This week, the South African Air Force created aviation history. One of the four South African Air Force (SAAF) pilots to successfully complete the first Operational Conversion Course (OCC) instructed by local SAAF pilots, is a woman.


Captain Catherine Labuschagne, made her solo Gripen flight at the South African airbase Makhado in the Limpopo province of South Africa. This will give her a place in the record books as the first female Gripen pilot.

Captain Labuschagne is one of several women serving as pilots in the SAAF and she previously flew the Impala jet before she qualified on the Hawk Lead-In-Fighter trainer to prepare her for the transition to South Africa’s front line fighter.

She did fly in the rear seat of Gripen back in 2004, then making history as the first woman pilot to fly Gripen, this time however, she took to the skies in a single seat Gripen and the instructors at 2 squadron stayed on the ground.
The four newly qualified Gripen fighter pilots will strengthen SAAF and the 2 squadron as they will reach operational status sometime next year when their conversion course is completed.

The South African government ordered 26 Gripen C/D fighter aircraft in 1999 as part of a “strategic defence package”

Recently the SAAF Gripen force, although still in a project phase and not formally an operational system, conducted a large part of the air policing during the FIFA soccer World Cup.

Source and photo: SAAB

Citation :

South Africa's "Klooster" Artillery Project Moves to Closure

The South African Army is moving closer to closure with Project Klooster, the acquisition of an artillery target engagement system (ATES) for the field artillery. It has placed a R64 290 859 order on Thales Defence Systems (TDS) for the “procurement and production of final spares for artillery target engagement system, Build A”.

A separate R3 752 224 contract was awarded to Spektrum Logistics Support Services CC of Atlasville under contract EAES/2010/111 for the maintenance and repair of artillery optical equipment.

The ATES, type classified the AS2000 in SA Army Service, is the successor to the AS80 under Project Dibula by TDS' predecessor, Teklogic. A production action plan was approved in October 2004 with deliveries for a first regiment set to commence in September 2007 and deliveries for a second in April 2008. AS2000 allows gunners to manage their guns and rocket launchers, analyse muzzle velocity, compute and track meteorological data and effect technical and terminal fire control. It also allow artillery commanders to command and control their guns and fire units as well as to communicate and transfer data.

ATES consists of three integrated parts, namely an observation and terminal fire control subsystem; an artillery command and tactical fire control subsystem; and, a deployment management and technical fire control subsystem. Its elements are fitted to individual guns, mortars and rocket launchers as well as issued to battery, regimental and other headquarters and forward observers.

The cost of the total system is unknown, but suggestions are the total value is around R700 million.
Yesterday's order follows a R3 691 545 order (EBEB/S2009/2337) in January and a R25 984 990.56 deal in June 2007 for the production and supply of Build A (EBEB/S2007/2111). Both were extensions of the base contract, EBEB/2000/336. A further R8 758 850 order was placed in June 2009 for support and maintenance of the ATES.

Citation :

South African Hawks Drop SDP Probe

South African investigators have halted a decade-long probe into graft allegations around the purchase of fighter jets from BAE Systems and frigates from a group of German companies, saying they are unlikely to secure further convictions.

The investigation “wasn’t really getting anywhere,” Musa Zondi, a spokesman for the police's Hawks investigative unit, told Bloomberg financial news service today. “It’s closed. The National Prosecuting Authority, on the basis of the evidence we had, couldn’t charge anyone.” The Sowetan and Mail & Guardian (M&G) newspapers reported the decision as made last month by Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation head Lieutenant General Anwar Dramat.

Dramat told the Sowetan yesterday: "I instructed that it must be closed." He refused to give reasons. "No, sorry. You can make a written enquiry," he said. Bloomberg reports the South African government has faced accusations since 1999 that officials took bribes from companies that won weapons contracts worth R47.4 billion. “Among those implicated were President Jacob Zuma. Charges against him were dropped in April last year,” Bloomberg said. The M&G reports the bribes, disguised as commissions and miscellaneous expenses may have amounted to more than R1 billion.

Dramat last month said R300 million may have illicitly changed hands in the fighter deal, and a further $25 million during the purchase of the warships. He told Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts the investigation would take at least another five years and millions of Rand to complete and it needed to be determined whether it would be in the country’s best interests to pursue the case.

Investigators in the fighter case would have had to wade through 460 boxes of evidence and 4.7 million computer-generated documents that were seized from a raid on seven premises in November 2008. BAE Systems, Europe’s biggest defence company, agreed in February to pay almost US$450 million to resolve bribery and fraud investigations by US prosecutors and the British Serious Fraud Office, some of which were linked to the arms sales in South Africa, Bloomberg added.

While the South African case was excluded from the plea bargaining, the agreement in the UK may have made witnesses less likely to testify in South Africa, Dramat said. BAE Systems did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment today, the news service said.

In June 2008, German state public prosecutors dropped a two-year bribery investigation of ThyssenKrupp AG, Germany’s largest steelmaker and part of the group that supplied four frigates to the South African Navy. Two former ThyssenKrupp employees who were involved in the sale were fined and given summary suspended jail terms of six and eight months for offences not directly connected with the deal. The group’s Johannesburg-based spokesman said he could not immediately comment on the case.

In his September 8 briefing to SCOPA, Dramat said the Hawks had reopened the investigation into the SDP after C2I2 CE Richard Young laid new charges of corruption in November last year. But last week Hawks investigator Colonel Johan du Plooy told Young that Dramat had terminated the investigation on September 21. Young slammed Dramat's decision. "If Dramat refused to provide Sowetan with the reasons, that is unbelievable. It shows they have something to hide," he told the Sowetan.

Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille, who first brought the allegations to Parliamentary attention, also slammed Dramat's decision. "There is no legal basis for him to drop it because there is enough evidence and a prima facie case for him to investigate it. He must have received a political instruction. But how can he ignore what the law demands of him?" she asked.

SCOPA chairman Themba Godi was reportedly also shocked at the news. "To cease the investigation is a dramatic development," Godi told Sowetan.

The Democratic Alliance's David Maynier said "it was clear when Dramat appeared before SCOPA there was not much appetite to continue the investigation into corruption in the deal. It is a travesty of justice". A “reliable source” told Sowetan that the Hawks have a "multitude" of other pieces of evidence of bribery in their possession, including financial records showing that German arms dealers claimed tax deductions on the bribes they allegedly paid.

Asked this week why Dramat had closed the German leg of the investigation, Zondi told the M&G the “main reason was that the investigation has not yielded any evidence that the prosecuting team finds useful." Zondi did not answer a follow-up question about how such a conclusion was possible without attempts to secure the evidence from Germany having been followed through, the paper said. Zondi said the fighter leg of the investigation had been closed because the NPA had advised that "it is not possible to draft charges against any person".

defpro

Citation :

Denel to Service South African Navy Guns



The South African Navy has awarded a contract to Denel Land Systems for the maintenance of its guns and to provide associated support services.
The navy artillery includes a 76mm OTOMelera, a 76mm/62 super rapid medium-calibre automatic cannon, a Denel Land Systems GA35 35mm dual purpose automatic cannon and a SAN mk1 20mm automatic cannon.
The 76mm cannon is capable of hurling a 6kg projectile up to 8,000m at a rate of 120 rounds a minute, though the maximum range is 18,400m at 45°.
The GA35 twin-gun system can destroy attacking helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, and surface-to-surface missiles against surface vessels and shore targets, in symmetrical and asymmetrical combat.
The SAN mk1 20mm automatic cannon is a standard lightweight weapon aboard the River Class inshore patrol vessels / mine countermeasures vessel, the Warrior Class offshore patrol vessel and Valour Class frigates.
The R10m contract was awarded in addition to the R2 304 622 award to EDH (SA) of Stellenbosch to support a 76mm muzzle velocity radar system.

naval-technology

Citation :

South African defence budget cuts - Gordhan giveth, Gordhan taketh

South African Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan has cut this year's defence budget by R272 742 000 [R1.000 = $0.142, €0.103 - Ed.] taking the R30 715 333 allocated in February down to R30 442 591 for the year to March 2011.

This is in addition to earlier “efficiency savings” imposed on the Departments of Defence and Military Veterans by the National Treasury. In February Gordhan cut defence spending by R8 billion over the next three years. on the Department of Defence. The cuts come at a time when state revenues are down sharply and government is under pressure to deliver better social service. But the cuts also come as Members of Parliament, defence officials and comentators warn that the budget - even before the efficiency drive - was insufficient and that cost-cuting was damaging the military.

The Treasury's Estimates of National Expenditure document released with the national budget pruned the current budget by R3.2 billion, next year's by R2.2 billion and that of FY2012/13 by R2.1 billion. “Included in the total reduction is a saving of R4.5 billion due to the cancellation of the Airbus A400M aircraft contract” the ENE said.

Gordhan also authorised unforeseeable and unavoidable expenditure of R225 million under the Force Employment programme. “An additional R200 million is allocated for the South African National Defence Force for the support provided to the South African Police Service during the hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup,” the Adjusted Estimates of National Expenditure released today says. “An additional R25 million is allocated for support provided during the 2010 public service strike.”

Adjustments due to “significant and unforeseeable economic and financial events” include an additional R352.4 million within the budget for “higher personnel remuneration increases than the main budget provided for, including the increased housing allowance”. The funding relates to last December's across-the-board salary increase for the military. “...as Commander-in-Chief of the SANDF [South African National Defence Force] , it is my pleasure to announce increases in the salaries of members of the SANDF, who are on salary levels 2 to 12, from privates to colonels or the occupational class of military practitioner. The increases will range from 2% to 65%, and this is effective from December 1, 2009,” Zuma said December 16.

defpro

...

Citation :

Les nombreux et durables problèmes d’un sous-marin sud-africain


Même s’il n’était pas en réparations, le sous-marin sud-africain ne pourrait pas prendre la mer parce qu’il n’a pas d’équipage formé, a-t-on appris mardi.

Le directeur de la stratégie maritime de la marine sud-africaine, le contre-amiral Bernhard Teuteberg, a déclaré mardi dernier devant la commission de la défense du Parlement sud-africain, que le sous-marin était actuellement en cale sèche à la base navale de Simon’s Town et que ce n’était "pas seulement à cause de ses batteries".
Précédemment, le ministre sud-africain de la défense, Lindiwe Sisulu, avait répondu à un parlementaire que le Manthatisi était maintenu en cale sèche à la base navale "pour minimiser l’exposition aux éléments pendant que ses batteries sont soumis à un entretien".
Teuteberg, qui a précisé que le sous-marin n’était plus opérationnel depuis "environ 3 ans", a ajouté qu’il y avait un certain nombre d’autres raisons.
"L’une d’entre elles est le manque de personnel sous-marinier entraîné et le fait est que je n’ai seulement que 2 équipages complets pour 2 sous-marins.
"Par conséquent, ... pour garantir que je conserve 2 sous-marins opérationnels afin de former de nouveaux équipages — parce que, comme vous le savez, j’ai besoin d’aller en mer pour donner de l’entraînement aux nouveaux équipages — nous avons volontairement décidé ... de ne pas remettre le Manthatisi en service plus tôt.
"Nous allons le laisser là où il est et nous concentrer sur les 2 opérationnels, afin de constituer plus vite un plus grand pool de personnel formé."
Il a ajouté que le sous-marin était aussi préparé pour un "grand carénage", bien que personne ne travaille physiquement à son bord actuellement.
"Nous en sommes au stade de la planification, avec l’aide du constructeur et d’autres personnes afin de planifier cet exercice très, très complexe.
"A ce stade, le pronostic est que, vers la fin 2013, il sera entièrement opérationnel. C’est à ce moment là que nous voulons sortir le sous-marin suivant de l’eau pour son grand carénage. Donc tout est lié," a-t-il expliqué.
Teuteberg a aussi expliqué les problèmes que connait le Manthatisi, le 1er sous-marin U-209, livré il y a seulement 5 ans.
L’un est un choc que le sous-marin a subi alors qu’il prenait la mer par une forte tempête.
"L’entrée de la base sous-marine est trop étroite pour ce type de sous-marin qui n’a qu’une seule hélice. Sa barre de plongée arrière a touché le quai et a été déformée.
"Nous avons immédiatement sorti le sous-marin de l’eau et vérifié son étanchéité... les seuls dégâts étaient sur la barre de plongée qui était déformée vers le haut."
Teuteberg a indiqué qu’il était maintenant prévu d’élargir l’entrée de la darse des sous-marins "pour qu’il y ait plus de place".
A propos des problèmes que le sous-marin a eu avec ses batteries, il a expliqué qu’il y avait eu une "augmentation excessive d’hydrogène à l’intérieur des batteries" pendant leur chargement.
Ce problème a été résolu en installation une "soupape de surpression d’hydrogène", qui évacue l’excès de gaz hors du sous-marin pendant le rechargement des batteries.
Un certain nombre de batteries ont été endommagées au point qu’il faudrait les remplacer, et le fabricant a indiqué qu’il le ferait gratuitement.
Concernant un problème qui a fait sauter des fusibles du sous-marin, Teuteberg a indiqué que quelqu’un avait branché des câbles "de la mauvaise façon".
C’est arrivé parce que les câbles n’étaient pas correctement marqués.
Répondant ensuite à une question, il a indiqué que la personne responsable avait été sanctionnée.

Times Live

Citation :

South African Special Forces buy Chaka C2 System

The South African Special Forces (SF) has purchased the SAAB Systems Grintek “Chaka” brigade-and-below command-and-control (C2) system. The order, announced yesterday, worth R2 061 321.50, is for the supply, installation, configuration, testing and training of Chaka and related components to the Special Forces. It is not clear when the system will be delivered.

The South African Army will early next year separately take delivery of its variant of the Chaka system, ordered in July 2008 at a estimated cumulative cost of R72 million. The Army order was for equipment sufficient for three simultaneous peacekeeping operations and one training exercise. It is not clear what the Special Forces have purchased. The system architecture the Army sought consisted of nine static C2 systems to support the brigade staff, 40 mobile C2 systems to support battalion and company commanders, and 48 “Impi” location sensors to track “blue force” units of all sizes. These are now being installed in selected Ratel, Casspir and LandRover command vehicles, with the latter on display at African Aerospace & Defence 2010 in Cape Town in September.

Bidders for the programme, Project Legend, had to fulfil a range of requirements, including a commitment to “having a local support and enhancement capability within SA that can maintain/upgrade the full software suite for at least 10 years after commissioning”. The tender documents also require that the “source code of the system shall reside in SA for Department of Defence use”.

The Engineering News reported in August 2008 that Legend “was initiated in the period 2001/2002” but the Request for Proposals was only sent out to industry in December 2006. SAAB reportedly had 18 months after July 2008 in which to deliver its system to Armscor.

Chaka was developed on the back of years experience with a brigade-level wargaming solution called BattleTek. "Wargaming and C2 are actually two sides of the same coin - ‘train as you fight, fight as you train'," SAAB Systems SA systems engineer Johan Maritz told Engineering News. "We are the only company in South Africa, and one of the few in the world, with this continuum between simulation and C2 systems." Other than SAAB, quotations had been requested from Fulcrum Information Technologies, EADS SA, Denel, African Defence Systems, CyberSim, FIMM Works, Elmer Communications Systems and Unified Data. CyberSim won and was later acquired by SAAB.

SAAB SA CEO Riaz Salojee in 2007 told defenceWeb the contract was “hotly contested” as “whoever wins has business for the next 30 to 40 years”. The company says Chaka will enables a brigade commander and his staff to enjoy situational awareness unequal to that available up to now, plan operations and electronically send the resulting operational orders to subordinate commanders and control the execution of their plans.

SAAB Systems SA MD Willie Bothma said in August 2008 the deal represented a major leap forward in the utilisation of information technology to improve the operational effectiveness of the SA Army, the SA National Defence Force and its Joint Operations Division that exercises C2 over all deployed forces. “Planning time will be reduced drastically and orders can now be sent instantaneously in near real-time”, said Bothma.

Bothma added that Chaka expanded on the C2 system supplied to the Air Defence Artillery for the Ground Based Air Defence System. “It is of special significance that the Chaka can also integrate with the conflict simulation system supplied by SAAB Systems SA to the SANDF Centre for Conflict Simulation (CONSIM) [in 2007]. This will enable the SANDF to 'train as you fight and fight as you train',” he added.

“The fact that the system is truly South African guarantees continuous, cost-effective support of the system, as well as the possibility of developing any additions to the system, according to evolving needs. This puts the SANDF in full control of their system,” Bothma further said.

Saab Systems SA previously also developed and built the heart of SA Air Force's Air Picture Display System (APDS), which is that service's air mission C2 system. “With this new contract SAAB Systems SA adds the landward command and control domain to the existing air command and control domain in one business entity,” noted Bothma. “The advantage to the SANDF is that the expertise gained in the air environment is also available for the landward Command and Control domain. Furthermore, Saab Systems SA has already integrated elements of both systems to move towards the achievement of a more integrated joint command and control system for the SANDF.”

Reports at AAD indicate a pre-production Chaka system, integrated with the SAAF APDS and the National Joint Operations Centre, provided C2 to Operation Kgwele that safeguarded the soccer World Cup

defpro

Citation :

Rheinmetall to keep South African rockets roaring

The South African Artillery is investing in its holding of FV2 Bateleur multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS). It has awarded Rheinmetall Denel Munitions (RDM) a R2 453 601.60 contract for the procurement of Bateleur upper structure spares. It was an extension of a similar R1 523 684.90 contract awarded last September and takes the value of work on the system to R14 519 120.59.

The London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in its annual 2010 Military Balance publication credits South Africa with 51 MLRS – 26 of the 24-tube first-generation FV1 Valkiri and 25 of the later Bateleur. The IISS lists the Valkiri as being in storage. Another source puts most of the Bateleur in storage as well.

Lt Col Clive Wilsworth in his “First in, Last Out” (30 Degrees South, Johannesburg, 2010), an account of South African artillery operations between 1975 and 1989, notes the MLRS programme, Project Furrow, started in 1974. He added it is a common misperception that the quest for rocket artillery only started after Operation Savannah, the South African intervention in Angola from November 1975, when the Army encountered the Soviet BM21 122mm MLRS. “The massive firepower of the [MLRS] was already appreciated before the first contact in Angola.”

Wilsworth adds the system was developed to deliver “artillery strikes on soft targets – ideal against logistic points or convoys, airfields, concentrations of troops in open trenches or even in the open.” Development started at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and production as well as systems integration was in the hands of Kentron, today's Denel Dynamics and RDM Western Cape. He further recounts that 127mm (5-inch) was selected as the calibre for the system as it was the same as the Kentron V3 air-to-air missile “which, with relatively minor modifications, could be used successfully.”

The warhead contained 6400 steel balls cast in a resin sleeve to save weight and filled with a RDX/TNT explosive mix. Two fuses were available: direct action or proximity. “During operations the proximity fuse was the most effective, and very few DA fuses were ever used.” The system entered service in 1979 with the fiat instructors' course held at Kentron South (later Denel Somchem and now part of RDM) in May 1979. The first use of the Valkiri in combat was in August 1981 during Operation Protea. Wilsworth regrettably does not discuss the development of the Bateleur, which has not yet made a combat debut. It does however use the same 127mm rocket but with a 40-tube launcher fitted to a mine-protected Kwêvoël 100 10-ton 6x6 truck.

The weapon can fire up to 40 127mm pre-fragmented high explosive warheads to ranges of 7.5km to 36km at sea level singly or using ripple fire, firing up to 1 rocket per second. Reload ca take less than 10 minutes and in/out-of-action time is one and two minutes respectively. The system is supported by a Kwêvoël 100 ammunition truck carrying 96 rockets and crew who help with the reloading.

The systems are currently allocated to the SA Army Artillery School, Artillery Mobilisation Regiment and 4 Artillery Regiment, all of Potchefstroom, as well as the Regiment Potchefstroomse Universiteit and the Transvaalse Staatsartillerie of Pretoria.


Procurement of 127 mm bateleur multiple rocket launcher upper structure spares -extension of EAES/2009/194
EAES/S2010/1125 18 Nov 2010 R2 453 601,60 Rheinmetall Denel Munitions (Pty) Ltd

Procurement of 127 mm bateleur multiple rocket launcher upper structure spares
EAES/2009/194 10 Sep 2009 R1 523 684,90 Rheinmetall Denel Munitions (Pty) Ltd

Maintenance and repair of 127 mm bateleur multiple rocket launcher upper structures
EAES/2009/153 3 Sep 2009 R6 326 622,95 Rheinmetall Denel Munitions (Pty) Ltd

Replenishment of bateleur demobilization containers
EAES/2008/200 4 Mar 2009 R1 726 683,00 Contracts Logistics Equipment (Pty) Ltd

Maintenance & repair of 127 mm Rocket Launcher - extension of EATL/2006/141
ATL/2008/0935 6 Nov 2008 R586 688,00 Denel (Pty) Ltd t/a DLS: Western Cape
AES/S2007/0764 26 Jul 2007 R558 347,07 Denel (Pty) Ltd t/a DLS: Western Cape
EAES/S2006/0703 24 Jan 2007 R115 425,07 Denel (Pty) Ltd t/a DLS: Western Cape

Artillery system engineering support 127 mm bateleur
EAES/2007/633 12 Jun 2008 R1 052 630,00 Denel (Pty) Ltd t/a DLS: Western Cape
Classification: Restricted

Artillery systems engineering support for 127 mm Bateleur - extension of EATL/2005/158
AES/S2007/0740 7 Jun 2007 R175 438,00 Denel (Pty) Ltd t/a DLS: Western Cape

defpro

Citation :

South African Air Force invests in Oryx helicopter fleet

The South African Air Force has awarded Denel Aviation a R390.7 million [$54.64 million; €41.28 million - Ed.] contract for product support for its fleet of Denel M1 Oryx medium utility helicopters, now thought to number 42. The type has been in service since May 1989. The deal takes known expenditure on the type to R1.3 billion (R1 298 458 684.74) since 2007.

The Oryx was assembled from kits smuggled into South Africa via Romania and Portugal in violation of a then-mandatory UN arms embargo. Keith Campbell in June 2007 described the helicopter in the Engineering News as a “hybrid of the [Aerospatiale, later Eurocopter, AS330] Puma and the [AS332] Super Puma” (later the Cougar). “The Oryx has a fuselage that is longer than that of the Puma but shorter than that of the Super Puma, and was fitted with the powerplant, dynamics systems, and tail boom of the Super Puma.”

“The result was and is a helicopter with a greater payload and range capability than the Puma and a greater power-to-weight ratio than the Super Puma/Cougar. In consequence, the Oryx is an ideal transport helicopter for the hot temperatures and high altitudes frequently found in Southern Africa.”

Campbell says the Oryx was developed in parallel with the Rooivalk attack helicopter, the development of which began in March 1984 as Project Impose. The Oryx being “simpler and cheaper than the Rooivalk, the Oryx programme was completed much more rapidly.” First flight was on September 18, 1987 and deliveries commence in May 1989. Fifty-one were eventually delivered. A mid-life upgrade, Project Drummer, commenced in 2006.


Product support for the Oryx helicopter fleet - extension of ELGS/2002/594
LGS/2010/4511 25 Nov 2010 R390 682 957,61 Denel Aviation
LGS/S2010/4507 22 Sep 2010 R9 664 536,39 Denel Aviation
LGS/S2008/3960 21 May 2009 R278 951 003,59 Denel Aviation
LGS/S2008/3929 8 Apr 2009 R9 971 516,43 Denel Aviation

Oryx life extension; upgrade and overhaul of engines - extension of EVLI/2005/202
VLI/S2008/1744 29 Jan 2009 R53 698 708,38 Turbomeca Africa
VLI/S2007/1689 18 Oct 2007 R70 723 497,00 Turbomeca Africa

Avionics upgrade and obsolescence mitigation for the Oryx Medium transport helicopter - extension of ETEL/2005/540
VLI/S2007/1690 15 Nov 2007 R460 377 954,48 Denel Aviation

Oryx life extension: Dynamic components, overhaul and airframe modifications - extension of EVLI/2005/499
VLI/S2007/1688 24 Oct 2007 R15 824 213,00 Denel Aviation

Oryx life extension: Dynamic component overhaul and airframe upgrade - extension of EVLI/2005/244
VLI/S2006/1660 12 Apr 2007 R8 564 297,86 Denel Aviation

defpro

Citation :

South African Navy Foresees 22-Ship Fleet by 2030

The South African Navy's 2030 blueprint seeks a fleet of 22 warships and submarines, Chief Director Maritime Strategy, rear admiral Bernhard Teuteberg has announced.
Teuteberg presented the figure in a briefing to the National Assembly's Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans.
According to the 2030 blueprint, the South African Navy will add three offshore patrol vessels, six inshore patrol vessels (IPV), two combat support vessels, and three strategic sealift and sustainment vessels.
The list also includes a new hydrographic survey vessel as well as a mobile hydrographic survey team.
The six IPV vessels will likely carry four Project Mapantsula mine countermeasure systems.
The navy currently operates three submarines and four frigates.

naval-technology

Citation :

Cambridge Pixel Supplies Radar Plot Extractors for South African Air Force

UK-based Cambridge Pixel is supplying SPx radar plot extraction and SPx scan conversion software to South African technology company Tellumat for the South African Air Force's airfield approach radar systems.
Using the SPx library modules, Tellumat has implemented a dual-channel radar processing system that selects an area of interest from the incoming video and extracts plots of potential targets.
The system uses Cambridge Pixel's HPx-100 radar interface card to interface to multiple videos, trigger and azimuth data of the air force's ATCR-33 radar.
The digitised video is then processed by the SPx plot extraction and plot merging module.
In addition, the SPx scan converter module supports the plan position indicator (PPI) display of selected video inputs, which is then overlaid with graphics symbology.

airforce-technology

Citation :

Saab wins South African Gripen Simulator contract

Saab has awarded a contract for delivering a Multi Emitter Environment Simulator for Gripen with a total value of 45 million SEK in South Africa and for product support worth another 44 million SEK.

Saab was also awarded an interim support and services contract for the South Africans Air Force’s growing fleet of Gripen C and D advanced fighter aircraft. The agreement covers interim support services for the time until the fleet is fully operational, a Saab press release said.

The Interim Product Support contract will be for t 17 months period from the 1st November 2010 covering Maintenance Repair & Overhaul, engineering support services in Sweden or on base in South Africa and resupply of spares. The total value of the contract is 44 MSEK.

Saab in South Africa has been contracted to develop and test an interface between the Gripen mission support system and the SAAF current intelligence system.

South Africa has ordered 26 Saab Gripen C & D advanced fighter aircraft as part of the strategic defence package. The Gripen programme for South Africa is on track according to the contract.

Gripen is being used in real air policing missions, even though the system is neither fully delivered or declared fully operational. The use of Gripen during the FIFA world cup last summer was a great success from this perspective

defenseworld

Citation :

Saab to Deliver Gripen Fighter Aircraft to SAAF

Armaments Corporation of South Africa has awarded Saab a contract involving the South African Air Force’s (SAAF) fleet of Gripen C and D advanced fighter aircraft.
Under the $6.43m contract, Saab will deliver 26 Gripen C and D advanced fighter aircraft, as well as develop and test an interface between the Gripen mission support system and the SAAF intelligence system.
The agreement covers interim support services for the time until the fleet is fully operational.
The interim product support contract is an on-demand-based contract with a fixed part covering the framework for the 17-month period from November 2010 through March 2012.
On demand services include maintenance repair and overhaul, engineering support services in Sweden or on base in South Africa, and the resupply of spares.

airforce-technology

CSH2 Rooivalk

Citation :

16 commandés. Premier appareil en service en 1999. 12 livrés en 2004. Crash d'un appareil le 3 août 2005 lors du vol de test d'un nouveau système électronique.

Les Rooivalk n'ont jamais été complètement opérationnels. Un nouveau standard limité à l'usage du canon et des roquettes a été défini. Depuis novembre les 11 appareils restants sont interdits de vol. Ils n'ont ainsi pas participé à la sécurisation de la Coupe du Monde en juin et juillet 2010. Le 10 août 2010, la SAAF a annoncé que les 5 premiers Rooivalk répondant au nouveau standard devraient entrer en service en mars 2011.

http://www.helicopassion.com/fr/03/rooi-02.htm

Citation :

South African Gripen flying service support grows

The South African Air Force has awarded Gripen International a further R123,818 [$17,469 - Ed.] contract for interim product support for the flying service's advanced light fighter aircraft. This is in addition to support-related expenditure on the fourth-generation fighter of R97.5 million between November 2009 and November last year.

SAAB, to whom business unit Gripen International reports, last month announced a 45 million Swedish crowns (roughly R45.1 million) contract to provide “on demand” services for the 17 months from November 1, 2010 to the end of March 2012. “On demand” services are typically maintenance repair and overhaul, engineering support services in Sweden or on-base, at Air Force Base Makhado in South Africa, SAAB said in a statement. It is not clear if the R123 818 contract forms part of the SAAB deal or not.

South Africa ordered 28 Saab Gripen C & D advanced light fighter aircraft in 1999 as part of a “strategic defence package”. The order was later trimmed to 26. The Gripen were acquired as a package with 24 BAE Systems Hawk Mk120 lead-in fighter trainers. In 2007 Treasury put the cost of the Gripen acquisition, Project Ukhozi, at R19.908 billion.

Although still not an operational system,the SAAF's growing fleet of SAAB Gripen fighters conducted about half the 51 aircraft intercepts conducted during the June/July soccer world cup. The SAAF deployed 11 of the available 15 Gripen during the month-long tournament as well as 12 of 24 BAE Systems Hawk lead-in fighter trainers.

Air Force director combat systems Brigadier General John Bayne, praised the availability of the SAAF's new fighter fleet during the soccer tournament at a Gripen briefing at the SAAB chalet at Africa Aerospace & Defence 2010 exhibition. The Gripen were allocated 276 flying hours and the Hawks 279. Bayne says the five two-seat Gripen D were 98% reliable and the six single-seat Gripen C 89%. The Hawk was 98% reliable. At any given time 8.95 of the 11 Gripen were available and 11.6 of the Hawk. Maintainability was 89% for Gripen and 92% for Hawk. Bayne observed that the figures for Gripen would have been higher had it been an operation system.

defpro

Citation :

SAAF Awards Gripen Technical Support Contract to CSIR



The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa, has received a contract from the South African Air Force (SAAF) to assist the Gripen team with on-demand technical support.
The deal for a consultation service for the identification and correction of problems with data communication between Gripen aircraft closes on 16 February 2011.
As part of a "strategic defence package", South Africa ordered 28 Saab Gripen C and D advanced light fighter aircraft, later trimmed to 26.
The Gripen were acquired as a package with 24 BAE Systems Hawk mk120 lead-in fighter trainers, reports defenceweb.co.za.

airforce-technology

Citation :

Air Force ponders future of A109 helicopter




Written by Dean Wingrin Thursday, 10 February 2011 13:21




The South African Air Force is investigating the future use of the Agusta A109 light utility helicopter (LUH) it purchased as part of the 1999 Strategic Defence Package (SDP).

The A109 LUH was purchased to replace the elderly Eurocopter SA-316/SA-319 Alouette III helicopter which had been in service since 1962 in the light utility role. Delivery of the 30 A109 helicopters purchased from the Anglo-Italian AgustaWestland helicopter company under Project Flange commenced in 2005 and has been beset with difficulties and delays. An option for a further ten was not exercised.

The SAAF required the type to take pressure off its Denel Oryx medium utility fleet. The Air Force has long had the need for a platform more capable than the Alouette III but less expensive and more efficient than the Oryx for the bulk of taskings. The A109 was expected to fill that niche. The A109 was also expected to allow the SAAF to pass-on its Eurocopter BK-117 helicopter flet to the South African Police Service Air Wing.

At a press briefing at the Air Force Day Parade held at Swartkop airfield near Centurion on January 28, Lieutenant General Carlo Gagiano, Chief of the Air Force, said the SAAF is still holding on to their BK-117s and that they were looking to define a new role for the A109. “We have quite a large number of these helicopters (the A109) and indeed, we have to define a new role for them because they cannot really do the work of a BK 117,” Gagiono confirmed. “The BK 117s are doing a great job in the Eastern Cape,” he added.

According to the SAAF, typical missions for the A109 includes training, search and rescue, rope extraction & rappelling, trooping, medical evacuation (casevac), cargo transport, border patrol, peacekeeping, communications and urban operations.

Although the first five A109 aircraft were manufactured in Italy, the balance of the 25 helicopters was assembled by Denel Saab Aerostructures. By 2008 deliveries were four years late, leading to the imposition of a R90 million penalty, the only one imposed under the “arms deal”. It has been reported that offsets were tardy and the platform has failed to live up to expectation.

Although one of the stated uses of the new helicopter was for pilot training, the SAAF was experiencing a critical lack of qualified flying instructors soon after the initial aircraft were delivered. As a consequence, in mid-2006 the SAAF outsourced basic helicopter flying training to Starlight Aviation in Durban. At the time, it was rumoured that the A109, with its advanced avionics and equipment, was too complex to convert newly qualified pilots onto helicopters.

The Air Force announced in March 2007 that the A109 had been cleared for command-and-control, casevac, trooping and cargo-slinging duties. The helicopter is capable of being equipped with a search light, FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red), external hoist and a cargo-sling. However, operational reports suggest the type is, depending on one’s point of view, underpowered or alternatively too heavy with too low a payload to fully fulfil these tasks. The helicopter can neither carry operational loads in high heat conditions nor fly in strong wind. Other reports suggest that a fully-charged battery is required as the helicopter cannot be started manually, but the battery has a habit of going flat. Despite this, the crew love flying the A109.

It had always been the intention of the Air Force to replace the BK-117 helicopter, operated by 15 Squadron at the coast in Durban and Port Elizabeth, with the A109. In January 2008, it was decided to keep the BK-117 in service for a further year, as it had lower operating costs compared with the more advanced A109 LUH.

The UK journal AirForces Monthly noted in September 2008 that the A109 LUH should have been fully operational in both the landward and seaward roles by that January, allowing for the transfer of the BK 117 to the SA Police Service Air Wing. However, airframes fitted in a seaward configuration (with emergency water flotation gear) were then not available. The first aircraft in a seaward configuration (serial 4001) became available in May 2008 and underwent an Operational Test & Evaluation (OT&E) phase at 15 Squadron. Clearly, the OT&E did not find the A109 suitable for the seaward role either.

Gagino said that the matter of the retirement of the BK 117 had to be addressed soon. “If we phase the BK 117 out, as the plan is for this year, then we have to put more Oryx in the Eastern Cape because the A109 will not be able to do the work that the BK 117 is currently doing,” the Air Force chief continued.

Gagiono stressed it was not a mistake to purchase the helicopters – for R2.451 billion, but the Air Force just needed to find the right role for the A109. This could include command and control. A further observation role may be allocated to the A109 since the SANDF has once again taken over responsibility for border protection.

Three of the helicopters have been involved in serious accidents. In the first accident, three crew members were killed in May 2009 when their helicopter crashed into Woodstock Dam, near Bergville in KZN. A further two helicopters were damaged in November and December 2010, fortunately with no loss of live. These two airframes may be rebuilt in due course. The results of the investigation into the cause of the fatal crash has not been made public, while the investigation into the other two crashes is not yet complete. However, it is believed that there was no common cause between the three crashes.

As the cause of the most recent accident in December may have been as a result of mechanical failure, all the A109s were grounded, pending inspection. Gagiano has confirmed that while some of the aircraft are flying again, not all had been checked. In a reply to a Parliamentary question in January this year, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Lindiwe Sisulu said that 4% of the final associated logistic support for the A109 purchased as part of the SDP was still outstanding. This included the implementation of a few minor engineering changes.

Other South African companies involved in the project include Saab SA, Denel Optronics (now Carl Zeiss Optronics), Tellumat and Waymark.

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Citation :

Saab Grintek Wins SAAF Maintenance and Support Services Contract



The South African Air Force (SAAF) has awarded Saab Grintek Defence a maintenance and support services contract for self protection systems (SPS) to be fitted to the SAAF fleet of Denel Oryx medium utility helicopter and Lockheed Martin C130B medium transport aircraft.
The SPS, which is expected to be a more basic version of the integrated defensive aids suite (IDAS) based on the missile approach warning-300 (MAW-300) system, can improve the defensive and operational capabilities of aircraft and helicopters.
The MAW-300 later developed into the multisensor warning system (MSWS), which evolved into the SAAB EDS IDAS and the compact-IDAS (CIDAS) systems.
A full IDAS can detect multispectral threats and comprises radar warning receivers, laser illumination warning systems, ultra-violet-frequency missile approach warning (MAW) systems and pyrotechnical dispensers, reports defenceweb.co.za.

airforce-technology

Ce qui est dommage c'est qu'on a pas de photos de l'armée de terre enfin presque a part les 4 ou 5 photos postés par Fremo a la page 2 !
On a que des photos de la navy et de l'air force !

Elias a écrit:

Ce qui est dommage c'est qu'on a pas de photos de l'armée de terre enfin presque a part les 4 ou 5 photos postés par Fremo a la page 2 !
On a que des photos de la navy et de l'air force !

très bien, comme tu y as pensé ... collectes quelques photos du matos de l'armée de terre, et postes les

Tu m'as eu fremo













Vulture UAV

Bon travail elias !

MEKO A200 anti-air frigates:






F147 Spioenkop (Valour ( Meko A-200SAN ) Rota, 14th May 2004



S102 Charlotte Maxeke (Type 209/1400) Rota, 2007



A301 Drakensberg ([AOR]) Cape Town, October 2007



Rooivalks



cookpit Rooivalks





Gripen













MI-24 HIND-MKIII

"S.A.P.S" Special Task Force :




Africa Aerospace & Defence 2010









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