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 Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 3:42pm On Nov 18, 2018 |
I believe those were the old French Ratpacks. They were retired long ago. I'd avoid eating any. They newer rat's were much better than the green stuff. We were once given some US rats by a military attache. Good stuff. Almost restaurant quality compared to ours. patches689: |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 3:00pm On Nov 16, 2018 |
They're meant for motorised infantry units. 12.7mm is usually the top-end for Mot. Inf. ,because troops de-bus long before the objective unlike mechanised that could be required to fight through or provide support fire for the assault from elevated positions. Hence the use of high cal. autocannons and 8x8/tracked platforms. Mot. inf. used to mostly ride on trucks but nowadays its better protected vehicles like M-raps or light APC's like this. Would have liked to see them get Mbombe6x6. Newer design that's also better suited to COIN ops. The Germans probably financed the Fuchs. Henry240: 1 Like
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| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 3:19pm On Nov 06, 2018 |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 3:26pm On Nov 02, 2018 |
SDB's for when you want to go after technicals etc. But when you have them trapped in a area where you know there's no civilians i'd go with cheap barrel bombs. Roll them out of the back of a C-130 by the hundreds and carpet bomb the living hell out of them. You could simulate a B-52 strike for very little money by filling up some diesel drums with cheap commercial explosives like what they use in mines. No need to worry about anti air if you do your runs at night. You'd have to have strict rules of engagement though. No bombing near towns or civilians. patches689: 2 Likes |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 3:12pm On Oct 30, 2018 |
These ranking are completely useless. For instance if you apply them to 1991 Iraqi military, the US coalition would have lost GW1, the Iraqi army would have rolled over ISIS in 3 weeks in 2016 and the Saudi Army would have decimated the Houthis in about 30 minutes. You cannot look at militaries in a vacuum and come to a conclusion as to its warfighting capability. Do these nr. relate to military and political leadership and decision making ? Do commanders have free reign to plan/execute battles at a tactical level or is there political interference? Does the gov. have the general support of its population (nationalism) or are you dragging oppressed citizens kicking and screaming into a conflict they have no appetite for? Equipment and troop readiness? Are they well paid with high morale and esprit de corps ? Professional or conscript army ? Military age fighting population ? Do they regularly train at Bn./Div. level exercises in combined arms formations ? Industrial and engineering capability that can be converted expanded to war production? Is the gov (military) funded by a large and healthy tax base that can be expanded during wartime ? Or is it funded by a resource based economy that can be blockaded/sanctioned ? Does the country have diplomatic power and alliances with major powers ? etc.etc.etc If you want to judge a country's ability to fight a war you've better of reading some history books than Janes Defence weekly. Henry240: 12 Likes |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 4:39pm On Oct 27, 2018 |
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| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 5:13pm On Oct 24, 2018 |
They still use the 76mm. The guys at SSB doesn't want the 105mm. 76mm Carries more ammo for long range operations where you are far from your logistics train. The 76mm ammo is also much easier and quicker to load due to the smaller size and weight, so you can have quicker follow up shots. S.O.P is to run like hell if you come across a T-72 and it can kill a t-64. T-72 would require a 120mm anyway. 105mm Heat isn't good enough for T-72 and an APFSDS needs DU to do the job. I would have preferred they use the Rooikats in storage instead of the Badger for fire support and use those Badger hulls for a 120mm mortar or 105mm T-7 artillery version. Also upgrade some to conventional vehicle electric drive and dedicate them to the recon role. kikuyu1: 1 Like |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 2:10pm On Oct 24, 2018 |
Rooikat 105 is no longer available for manufacture. The subsystems are out of production and they'll probably have to develop it from scratch to get to a new production vehicle. There wont be any funds available for that in the foreseeable future and other 105mm armed 8x8's are a generation ahead anyway. Denel should have started marketing it as a COIN high speed pursuit platform for killing Toyotas 15 years ago when all the COIN wars started in my opinion. Today we see dozens of 8x8 90-105mm gun mounted systems becoming very popular. Companies like CMI are positioned to make a killing on their fire support turrets. Smaller armies are lining up for these as they are much cheaper to run than MBT's and can be integrated with most of the new 8x8 IVF's that everyone is buying. For some reason , products like UAV's, glide pgm's and wheeled 155mm guns that Denel couldn't give away in the 90's are now in fashion again. The SANDF has about 200 Rooikats in storage, so they wont run out of fire support options soon. 80 of the operational ones have been upgraded during project Arum Lily in 2006. The 76mm gun was designed to take out a T62 at 2000m and carries 15 more rounds, so its good enough for the African environment. kikuyu1: 1 Like |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 4:48pm On Oct 21, 2018 |
Generally only non-infantry soldiers gain weight after basics. Even then you certainly dont see anyone that out of shape. There's no real end to the training cycle. You can generally spot a infantry vet from the way they describe basic training compared to other units. Basics are mild compared to conventional training that follows. kikuyu1: 1 Like |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 5:02pm On Oct 20, 2018 |
What unit is that ? I'm not totally opposed to women deployed in a combat zone (i'm in favour of all female units though) , but damn, some of those girls are a bit on the heavy side ! I'd have the same opinion if they were male soldiers in that shape btw. Its one thing to bring them out for the odd photo op when they're stateside, but that's a combat zone. A lack of fitness can get you killed. Some of the units that got into trouble at Bangui had to run for their lives or get slaughtered. No joke. You cant compromise on fitness. There's no way in hell some of these ladies get through the first 2 hours of Vasbyt. frumentius: 2 Likes
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| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 3:06pm On Oct 19, 2018 |
Saudi's trying to diversify their PGM suppliers. They'll likely push hard for this deal after the Khashoggi assassination. The Prince knows he'll only barely survive this because Trump backs him. There's strong support in Congress for sanctions from both parties. If Denel played this right they could secure funding to finish some projects and bring more products to market. If they don't find a international partner I seriously doubt that Denel will still be in business 5 years from now. I'd still prefer a deal with Qatar though. They're far from being angels on human rights, but at least they operate more under the radar than the Saudi's. Qatar also operates 4 different fighter aircraft. This means that we could possibly get systems qualified on Mirage 2000,F-15,Eurofighter and Rafale. Maybe also Mokopa on their Apaches. Throw in the SAAF Gripens/Hawks and you've got a lot of aircraft covered. They could also set-up training facilities in SA. Qatar has limited airspace for this and they could stage aircraft at OTB for weapons training/qualification and joint exercises with SAAF. ssaengine: 2 Likes |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 2:46pm On Oct 12, 2018 |
"In military combat, cover is anything which is capable of physically protecting an individual from enemy fire. This differentiates it from the similar concept of concealment, in that an object or area of concealment only affords the benefit of stealth, not actual protection from small arms fire or artillery fragments." There fixed it for you. The reason we don't use Black/White for camouflage is that they aren't common naturally occuring colours (unless you are in snow)Notice that the SANDF use brown rifles as opposed to the SAPS that uses black. Notice how most SF units in AFghanistan paint their black rifles as soon as they get in country. From the pic it looks like they're doing coin rural ops. But hey, if you guys think it looks mean, knock yourself out. Odunayaw: 3 Likes |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 1:49pm On Oct 11, 2018 |
Skull-face also makes for a perfect aiming point. The whole point of a smock is to camo your face. Not scare children ! kikuyu1: 3 Likes |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 2:38pm On Oct 10, 2018 |
It'll come in handy when it fogs up and he starts running into trees !! lionel4power: 1 Like |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 4:22pm On Oct 02, 2018 |
RIP Sergeant Goodwill Kabelo Moagi Happened during a SF demo. lionel4power: 1 Like |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 2:54pm On Oct 02, 2018 |
Even though its probably fixable, they'll cannibalize it for spares. They have a bunch of them in storage, so it can be replaced with a working model without spending money to repair. As for replacing the whole fleet. The components for building new Oryx's are still in production in Romania and the engine is still available. Denel should be able to produce the local composite components and Paramount (ATE/Airosud) has glass cockpit avionics, and main rotors already spec'd to upgrade the old ones. It would just come down to cost and political will of the gov. The old Oryx's cost a fortune to procure, but that was mostly due to middlemen taking massive percentages. SA was still under arms embargo at the time , so they had no choice but to eat the cost. Today it would be a lot cheaper to do. If we built new ones we could just cannibalize the old fleet for spares as they would have 90% commonality. This would lead to a massive savings over time for the SAAF. Not to mention that they already support it in house as it would essentially be the same aircraft. Unfortunately, there is very little forward thinking in the ANC gov unless there's a buck to be pilfered, so they probably won't even consider it. Maybe Paramount can come up with a proposal for this. They could buy the old fleet for spares and make good money on the lifetime support contract for the 40 new Oryx's even if they only break even with the initial order. Here's a pic of the Romanian airframe that's still in production. ActivateKruger: 3 Likes
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| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 3:20pm On Sep 29, 2018 |
I'd go further and make a copy of the OV-10 with a bolt-on centre fuselage. That way you can configure it for any possible mission by swapping it out. UAV/UCAV, CION, air-air refueling, maritime, cargo etc. It would certainly be a better seller than SARA Here's a old vid of OV-10 with a trainable 20mm gatling gun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF18HJWnUk8 kikuyu1: 1 Like |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 5:13pm On Sep 25, 2018 |
They're not going to be bombing Dresden dude. You don't need 3.5tons payload to plink landcruisers. That's why the general trend in PGM's is that they're getting smaller. Mokopa only weighs in at about 50kg. If you need to drop tonnage your not going to call in these aircraft. Paramount designed this aircraft from the ground up for that payload. They seem to be pretty competent in designing products for a particular sweet spot in the market and I'm sure they did their homework by talking to potential customers 1st. If you look at bombed up tucanos etc. the loadout is pretty much the same. 2 PGM's and some Hydra's. The amount of hardpoints counts more than weight. I agree about the Air Tractor being superior to both though. I would not want to be a bad guy driving around in a pickup with that thing overhead. Whether Mwari will sell or not remains to be seen. What we do know is that they have launch customers and are going into production. They are also significantly cheaper than the competition. The biggest problem with selling all 3 of these planes are the availability of the Pratt & Whitney PT-6. Nowadays you just can't predict who's going to be in the US congress 2-4 years down the line. The type of wars these aircraft tend to get involved in typically gets pretty "messy" by nature and it only takes a couple of members of congress to shut down your spares supply. It would be a valuable selling point to have an alternate engine option. Same goes for integrating a large variety of weapons. A open architecture and a mix of Turkish, Chinese, Russian,Israeli and SA systems would have you well covered. kikuyu1: 2 Likes |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 5:57pm On Sep 24, 2018 |
Your assuming the F-22 had not detected that SU-35 20mins before. In reality the Raptor would have smoked the Sukhoi long before that pic was taken. A guy in a Cessna can take a FLIR pic of a aircraft that's not allowed to shoot it down. Vlad is so insecure about his 1980's fighter , he has to post pics online like a Kardashian. It all a moot point anyway. Israeli F-35's and us F-22's mount radar reflectors to amplify their signature 200X. This prevents the Russians from testing their EW against them. bidexiii: 5 Likes |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 4:12pm On Sep 22, 2018 |
61mech:
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| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 4:11pm On Sep 22, 2018 |
Does anyone have info on the new PGM displayed with the Ahrlac and the Swift upgrade from Paramount ? frumentius:
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| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 3:52pm On Sep 22, 2018 |
Commonwealth total GDP = $6 trillion (subtract UK of course) India = $2.256 trillion Will absolutely fleece the UK in any trade deal. Canada = $1.529 trillion Not legally able to do any trade deal with the UK that negatively impacts any EU country (as per their EU trade deal, w which ironically includes the UK until nxt year) Australia = $1.258 trillion Same goes here as per the stipulations in the TTP trade agreement. That leaves about 1 trillion in the rest. Prey tell what the UK is going to export to these remaining countries ? Most of whom doesn't even have proper ports. Why would countries like SA,Nigeria and Brazil risk access to the $20 trillion EU market for a deal with Miss May ? The UK is in for a lost decade like Japans economy went through. frumentius: 2 Likes |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 8:34pm On Sep 21, 2018 |
I'd agree with you if it wasn't for the new owners. I think they dumped a lot of money into the company to turn it into Paramount "light" jln115: 3 Likes |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 3:40pm On Sep 21, 2018 |
Problem with using the Ingwe motor from the parts bin is that you wont be able to hang 2 missiles next to each other. The rocket burn will damage the one next to it. I guess they'll use it on smaller UCAVS and market the one based on the Mokopa on bigger ones. ssaengine: 1 Like |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 3:30pm On Sep 21, 2018 |
They sacrificed range for warhead size. It's about twice the weight of its competitors. You need lots of HE to kill some of the giant Russian anti-ship missiles out there. That's why they wanted to modify it for surface-to-surface targets like small boats etc. I'm not aware of any naval missile that can also take on surface targets. The Raytheon SM-6 can ,but its the size of a exocet. GreenandGold: 1 Like |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 4:42pm On Sep 20, 2018 |
Think he's talking about the Marauder cargo version on the far left. I think Singapore plans to build some of that version. Henry240: 1 Like |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 4:28pm On Sep 19, 2018 |
Appreciate the AAD 2018 pics guys! Keep it coming. Always hard to find extensive image coverage of that show. GreenandGold: 1 Like |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 3:39pm On Sep 19, 2018 |
Looks pretty comfy. Does anyone have pics of the Badger turret interior ? I'm curious as to the layout of the gun and ammo feed system. The Ratel turret had all the ammo "below decks" in bins while the LCT turret has the feed inside. Some people have criticized the small 1st. line ammo capacity, but I think its a huge advantage to be able to top-up on the fly from your hull ammo supply. With the Ratel you had to stop and reload sections of belt, link then together and then it took forever to load into the gun through the dual feed system. It also looks like a much bigger gun than the 20mm. The big advantage of the 30mm cam gun is that it's so much more reliable due to the externally driven linkless feed system. Doing away with de-linking and gas operation would solve 99% of the issues. The US bushmaster and Denels 30mm actually has a little round colour coded dial in the back telling you what stage of the gun operation you are in. A full rotation means a full firing cycle has occurred. If you have a malfunction , the dial will stop at that firing stage giving you a clue as to wear the problem lies. Quite clever. Dealing with gun breakdowns with the old 20 was a nightmare in the cramped turret, because the problem was usually caused or fixed from the bottom feed selector. The damn links would also go everywhere on the floor. It wasn't unusual for 1 or 2 guns to go down in a platoon during an attack. Most gunners would tell you that the towing is the Ratel towbar's secondary function! Frumentum: 2 Likes |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 2:56pm On Sep 18, 2018 |
Terrible front approach angle. Its becomes a problem when you have to do an rapid about turn and there's a drainage ditch running parallel to the road (pretty common). Rule nr.1 for if you don't want to get hit by an RPG, don't get stuck. I've stopped counting the MRAP designs coming out of SA. We could equip a Bn. just with prototypes. Doesn't make any business sense to get into the products that Milkor is developing lately. Apparently the company has been taken over by a Turkish dissident organization Erdogan accuses of being involved with the coup. He accused them of taking $ 500 million out of the country. I'd keep a eye on them if I was the SA gov. Something doesn't smell right. jln115: 2 Likes |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 4:36pm On Sep 14, 2018 |
"The ironing thing is true." That should get you at least another 2 hrs sleep at night during basics ! I think one of the biggest reasons for dumping the nutria was to distinguish the SANDF from the SADF during the transition phase in the early 90's It would have been quite practical to issue nutria along with cammo so we could retain something that would be more effective in desert conditions like Sudan. frumentius: 2 Likes |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 3:28pm On Sep 14, 2018 |
I was told that the cammo scheme was computer generated at the CSIR based on natural colors found throughout SA that was sampled by a nationwide research project. lionel4power: 2 Likes |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: African Militaries/ Security Services Strictly Photos Only And Videos Thread by 61mech: 3:23pm On Sep 14, 2018 |
Those camo's were tested by some platoons when I was still in the SADF. I was told that the IR suppression was a function of the material they used. The troops testing it were quite excited , because we were told that they would outlaw the ironing of the uniforms as it degraded the IR suppression of the material. We were also told that it was specifically designed to counter the IR system of the MI-24 gunship. (They might have just used one to test it.) Keep in mind that a lot of this could have been made up. The Army had a lot of BS rumors flying around at the time. Any SANDF guys out there know if the Ironing thing is real ? As for the old Nutria (kak-brown) uniforms. They were ,counter to popular belief, actually very effective. Especially if you included local foliage and had proper training in cammo. A good technique was to lay prone in the shadow of a tree or bush. You'd be very surprised to see how difficult it is to spot a guy in browns lying in a dark shadow. Even up close. Here's a good vid made by a USMC trainer on the SADF nutria's effectiveness. He also has some great training vids for all you active duty guys. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCtVoP6Jdpg ssaengine: 2 Likes |
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