SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE

SOUTH AFRICAN NAVY

SANDF

Airbus Defence and Space has not given up on South Africa and is still hopeful that the SA Air Force will acquire the A400M and the C295 to meet its airlift, maritime surveillance and light transport requirements, and the A330MRTT to meet transport and tanking needs.

Fernando Ciria, Head of Marketing, Tactical Airlifters and ISR at Airbus Defence and Space, told defenceWeb that South Africa has not formally launched a procurement process for light transport and maritime surveillance aircraft but Airbus has nevertheless demonstrated the C295 to the South African Air Force (SAAF), in 2012, and is in touch with senior defence officials. He expects South Africa to make a decision at some stage on these programmes.

The SAAF initiated Project Saucepan for new maritime patrol aircraft to replace the C-47TP fleet, but this was then replaced by Projects Metsi and Kiepie, for light transport and maritime surveillance aircraft. Two years ago the Department of Defence (DoD) said the Air Force would acquire these types of aircraft, but in its latest annual report the DoD makes no mention of these acquisitions and the budget for the next several years shows no extra funding, indicating that Metsi and Kiepie have fallen by the wayside.

WHY NIGERIANS ARE BORN DRUG SMUGGLERS AND FRAUDSTERS

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE

The Chief of the Pakistan Navy, Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah, has requested more information on the Denel Dynamics Umkhonto surface-to-air missile (SAM). He made the request while on a recent visit to Simon’s Town.

During the course of the visit, from 26 May, Zakaullah and his delegation met with Flag Officer Fleet, Rear Admiral Bubele Mhlana, for a courtesy call, and visited the vessels SAS Isandlwana and SAS Manthatisi. The delegation was also given a tour of the Institute of Maritime Technology in Simon’s Town.

The South African Navy said Zakaullar was given a presentation covering SA Navy structure and the strategic guidance given to the Fleet by Navy Headquarters, amongst others. The Pakistan delegation requested more information about the Ukhonto missile system, which is installed aboard the SA Navy’s four Valour class frigates.

The vertically launched Umkhonto is also in service with the Finnish navy aboard its Hamina fast attack craft and Hameenmaaa class minelayers. It has also been ordered by Algeria for its Meko A200 class frigates.

The missile was originally developed with a 12 km range but this was increased to 15 km and Denel has demonstrated it can reach out to 20 km, with a ceiling of 8 000 metres. Denel Dynamics is currently working on a longer range version as part of an integrated air defence system as well as a radar guided version.

Once deployed, the missile has a reaction time of 2.5 seconds and half-second intervals between missile launches. Umkhonto uses inertial navigation and mid-course guidance from the launch ship or from a land based radar and then switches to its dual-band thermal imaging seekers.

Although it is primarily an anti-missile and anti-aircraft system, its 23 kg pre-fragmented warhead makes it effective against surface targets like ships as well.

During the Pakistan Navy visit, Zakaullar asked SA Navy Chief Vice Admiral Mosiwa Hlongwane to consider the possibility of deploying vessels to Pakistan to participate in the multinational exercise AMAN-17 which will take place in February 2017. However, as this coincides with South Africa’s Armed Forces Day this may not be possible.

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE

The South African Army (SAA) has incorporated Saab Grintek's BattleTek IV command training system into its training and experimentation regime, including a proof-of-concept trial as part of the process of establishing a number of BattleLabs. It has also been used to support multinational command exercises in South Africa.

BattleTek is a constructive simulation system that provides training for headquarters staffs at both the tactical and operational levels. It is scalable and can support training down to platoon commander level. It is HLA-compliant and uses Saab's Widely Integrated Systems Environment (WISE) integration platform. It can therefore be integrated with and draw on other simulation systems, such as Bohemia Interactive Systems' Virtual Battle Space 3 (VBS 3). This enables units and platforms in BattleTek to be viewed as entities in the VBS virtual environment. This also enables it to be integrated with whichever command-and-control (C2) application is appropriate, allowing command post staff to train on their specific operational system.

The BattleLab trial included the establishment of an integrated Live, Virtual, and Constructive (LVC) construct, consisting of BattleTek IV, VBS3, and Saab's laser-based Gamer live training system, across three dispersed locations: the School of Infantry at Oudtshoorn, the School of Armour at Bloemfontein, and the Army College in Pretoria. It also included the integration of BattleTek IV with the SAA's Chaka battle management system so that tactical activity generated by the BattleTek simulation was displayed in the tactical picture shown in Chaka.

http://www.janes.com/article/59834/south-africa-trials-battletek-command-training-system

Since I arrived in South Africa I have heard so many things about the South African Air Force, their new Hawk & Gripen aircraft programs and the controversial arms deal. Some even say that the SAAF do not have enough pilots to fly these jets while others say that there is simply no fuel available to fly at all. This is something I cannot believe and I decided to visit Air Force Base Makhado to test all these rumours myself.

My first visit was 85 Squadron (Combat Flying School) were pilots are introduced to jet aircraft and then trained on the Hawk to become fighter pilots. Students at this squadron mainly come from AFB Langebaan where they first completed their initial pilot's training and then passed a selection process to be trained as a fighter. I was extremely impressed by the members of this unit. It is sometimes said that there is no discipline in the defence force today and if I use 85 Squadron as a gauge of measurement, this is as far from the truth as can come. Although discipline in the military is usually a result of pressure, at 85 Squadron it is a result of absolute professionalism and respect for one another.

I attended the first squadron meeting of the day where all the planned activities are discussed, weather conditions are presents, BASH or “Bird Avoidance Safety Hazard” is emphasised and many other human resource matters are dealt with.


Next up was a training flight briefing session. Although Lt Cooper (Spartan) is the student in this exercise, he conducted the briefing. I found this method of training very interesting but liked the idea of allowing the student to present his knowledge rather than assuming that he grasped the concepts when someone else presents it. The officer commanding, Col Ogden was also part of this briefing, shared some of his own experienced ideas and also flew as instructor during the mission.

Timing and precision are two of the most important components during planning and execution of every mission. It is therefore critical that pilots synchronise their watches after every briefing or before every sortie.

With the exercise planned it was now time to fly it. This was going to be a dogfighting exercise with the students as the blue force in two Hawks fighting against the red force, a Hawk flown by two experienced fighter pilots. The students and instructors geared up and proceeded to the aircraft where a capable ground crew awaited them. Pre-flight checks were completed and I was heartbroken to stand on the ground while they taxied out without me.

Navigators and weapons officers are also trained at 85 Squadron and I met with Tessa Du Toit who would not trade this experience for the world. I could see the sparkle in her eyes during her briefing but more so after returning from her training flight.


http://pilotspost.co.za/arn0000089

Paramount unveils new Mbombe 8x8 infantry combat vehicle

Paramount Group has unveiled its 8x8 Mbombe 8 infantry combat vehicle, based on the earlier Mobmbe 6, at the Kazakhstan Defence Expo in that country’s capital Astana.

Paramount on 3 June said the new vehicle has a gross weight of 28 tonnes and kerb weight of 19 tonnes and payload of nine tonnes, which covers the weapon system, ammunition, crew and supplies. Eight dismounts can be accommodated in addition to three crewmembers.

A wide range of turrets and weapon stations can be integrated onto the vehicle, such as the Russian AU-220M remote turret armed with 57 mm cannon and a 7.62 mm machine gun. This was displayed on the vehicle in Kazakhstan.

The Mbombe 8 is powered by a cylinder engine turbo charged diesel engine driving a six speed automatic transmission, giving a maximum speed of 110km/h and a range of 800 km. The cooling systems and driveline have been tested and proven in winter conditions of -55 Celsius and desert conditions of +55 Celsius.

With the flat armoured floor of the Mbombe series, the new vehicle has STANAG 4569 Level 3+ ballistic protection and STANAG 4569 Level 4a and 4b blast protection.

PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN PRODUCT

South Africa in talks with India and Russia over Brahmos missile

India and Russia have in principle agreed to export the Brahmos anti-ship cruise missile to South Africa, according to Brahmos Aerospace.

Praveen Pathak, spokesman for BrahMos Aerospace told Russia’s TASS news agency on 27 May that India and Russia have agreed 'in principle' to export the missile to the UAE, Vietnam, South Africa and Chile.

"As far as the BrahMos missile is concerned, talks with countries like UAE, Chile, South Africa and Vietnam are in advanced stages," he said, adding that Brahmos Aerospace expects to sign a deal with the UAE by year-end.

The Brahmos missile was developed jointly by India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM), and named after India's Brahmaputra river and Russia's Moscow river.

The missile has a range of up to 290 km and can travel at speeds of up to Mach 3, although an improved version (Brahmos-2) capable of up to Mach 6 is being tested.

The ramjet-powered missile remains supersonic throughout its flight path, and is claimed to be the world’s fastest anti-ship cruise missile. It can be launched from land, aircraft, ships and submarines and carries a warhead weighing 200-300 kg. Brahmos Aerospace claims that, compared to existing subsonic cruise missiles, Brahmos has three times more velocity, 2.5 to three times more flight range, three to four times more seeker range and nine times more kinetic energy.

Technology developed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) was integral to identifying and locating foreign trawlers fishing illegally in South Africa’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) last month.

The EEZ is more than one and a half million square kilometres of ocean home to a diverse and rich marine ecology, the Pretoria-headquartered national research organisation said. This makes it an easy target for illegal fishing because of the difficulty of effectively patrolling such a huge expanse of ocean. Illegal fishing vessels are able to hide in the deep ocean and remain undetected for months while stealing thousands of tons of fish, rightfully belonging to South Africa.

“Under a month ago a large fishing vessel was detected in the South African EEZ using CSIR developed technology,” said Dr Waldo Kleynhans, the man who invented what is now called SeaFAR.

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE

India and Russia have in principle agreed to export the Brahmos anti-ship cruise missile to South Africa, according to Brahmos Aerospace.

Praveen Pathak, spokesman for BrahMos Aerospace told Russia’s TASS news agency on 27 May that India and Russia have agreed 'in principle' to export the missile to the UAE, Vietnam, South Africa and Chile.

"As far as the BrahMos missile is concerned, talks with countries like UAE, Chile, South Africa and Vietnam are in advanced stages," he said, adding that Brahmos Aerospace expects to sign a deal with the UAE by year-end.

The Brahmos missile was developed jointly by India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM), and named after India's Brahmaputra river and Russia's Moscow river.

The missile has a range of up to 290 km and can travel at speeds of up to Mach 3, although an improved version (Brahmos-2) capable of up to Mach 6 is being tested.The ramjet-powered missile remains supersonic throughout its flight path, and is claimed to be the world’s fastest anti-ship cruise missile. It can be launched from land, aircraft, ships and submarines and carries a warhead weighing 200-300 kg. Brahmos Aerospace claims that, compared to existing subsonic cruise missiles, Brahmos has three times more velocity, 2.5 to three times more flight range, three to four times more seeker range and nine times more kinetic energy.

The weapon is in service with the Indian Army and Navy. India and Russia plan to export half of production.

It is not clear if South Africa has the money to purchase the Brahmos, or for what purpose. It is unlikely that such weapons would be fitted to the three new inshore and three offshore patrol vessels being acquired for the Navy under Project Biro. It is more likely that the Brahmos would be acquired to replace the Exocet missiles aboard the Navy’s four Valour class frigates.

South Africa acquired nine Exocet MM40 Block II and eight Exocet MM40 Block I missiles for the frigates. These may replace or augment the Exocets under Project Syne for the mid-life upgrade of the frigates.

The South African Navy plans to begin upgrade work in 2017, with work being carried out over a decade to extend the vessels’ service lives beyond 2035. It is not clear how much new equipment has been funded for this – the Department of Defence 2014/15 annual report said that “For maritime defence, the Department plans to acquire a hydrographic vessel and offshore patrol vessels, upgrade frigates and static communication for the SANavy, and replace the heavyweight torpedo capability,” but gave few other details.

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE

Denel Mechem is busy developing a smaller version of its Casspir armoured personnel carrier in response to market demand, with the new variant aimed at urban operations.

Jack Geldenhuys, Senior Manager MPV and Ancillary at Denel Mechem, told defenceWeb that his company had been exploring the possibility of producing a lighter, more compact version of the Casspir for the last five years, but only began development around three years ago.

A short Casspir, based on the old models and known as Casspir Short, was produced for demining, and this was identified as having potential for use in urban areas, as the standard Casspir can be cumbersome in tight built up spaces – the United States, for example, found that its mine-resistant, ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles were sometimes too large and heavy for narrow roads and bridges in Afghanistan. Geldenhuys said that feedback from peacekeeping force commanders was that the Casspir is very good except it struggles in narrow spaces like alleyways.

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE

The three foreign fishing vessels, escorted into East London harbour earlier this week by the SA Navy replenishment vessel and the DAFF vessel, Sarah Baartman, were carrying 600 tons of squid as well as other fish caught illegally.

The vessels have been inspected and searched by a team comprising representatives of the SA Police Service, SARS Customs, Department of Home Affairs (Immigration) and the SA Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA).

The vessels - Fu Yuan Yu 7880, Fu Yuan Yu 7881 and Run Da 617 – were picked up off the coast of East London using the Automated Identification System (AIS) fitted on the SAS Drakensberg (A301). According to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), the lead agency in the operation, it was established that the foreign vessels had “gear on board and had not applied to enter South Africa’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ)”.

Rough seas made boarding impossible and fishery control officers maintained radio contact with the Chinese trawlers. When they increased speed the Drakensberg and Sarah Baartman responded and intercepted before taking up position for escort duties to East London.

http://www.defenceweb.co.za/

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE

FACTS AND OPINIONS

AFRICA DAY - WHO REALLY HAS THE BIGGEST ECONOMY?

Much has recently been made of reports that Egypt has overtaken South Africa as Africa’s second largest economy and that we have now slipped to third place - with Nigeria in first place. All this has added to South Africa’s sense of national decline - after having prided ourselves for so long as being in an unassailable position as the continent’s largest economy. Commentators must now console South Africans with the reassurance that we are still the most “highly industrialised” economy in Africa.

The relative size of economies is generally measured by assessing their Gross Domestic Products on a PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) basis - which irons out kinks caused by the differences between official exchange rates and the actual purchasing power of the currencies involved.

In terms of PPP GDP China in 2015 already had the largest economy in the world - US$ 19,392 billion, (17% of global PPP GDP) compared with the EU at US$ 19,205 billion and the United States at US$ 17,947 billion. India was next with US$ 7,965 billion.

The largest economy in Africa was Nigeria at 22nd position in the world with a PPP GDP of US$ 1 092 billion. Egypt, at 23rd place, had a slightly smaller PPP GDP of US$ of 1 048 billion. South Africa limped in at third place in Africa and 30th place in the world with a PPP GDP of US$ 724 billion.

But it was not always thus. Nigeria suddenly assumed the leading position in 2014 after recalculating the basis on which its GDP was assessed, increasing it overnight by 89%.

The new figures were apparently verified by the IMF and the World Bank. However, if one considers other core factors relating to the Nigerian and South African economies, some of the statistics just don’t seem to add up. So, for example, the Nigerian Federal budget in 2014 was US$ 30,4 billion compared with South Africa’s budget the same year of US$ 115 billion.

Consider also the fact that South Africa with its 54 million people consumes more than 10 times as much electricity as Nigeria with its 177 million people. South Africa’s consumption of 234 million MW hours/year was the 15th highest in the world. We have over 2 000 shopping malls (the 6th highest number in the world) compared with 12 - 15 in the whole of Nigeria. Our exports and imports in 2013 amounted to US$ 198 billion compared with Nigeria’s total trade of US$ 135 billion. 90% of Nigeria’s exports were oil and oil products - which have fallen by more than 40% in the past two years.

In 2015 South Africa produced 615 000 motor vehicles and we had 165 cars per 1000 people. Nigeria had 31 cars per 1000 people. Nor is it a question of Nigeria having a prosperous rural farming sector. 62% of the population live below the international poverty datum line of US$ 1,25 per day - compared with 9.4% of South Africa’s population.

Also, in terms of financial services South Africa appears to be far in the lead. The value of shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange is US$ 790 billion, compared with the US$ 47 billion on the Lagos Exchange. South Africa’s banks and financial services are also rated amongst the best in the world by the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report.

Egypt probably has a better claim to being the continent’s largest economy. Its budget is US$ 85 billion and its foreign trade was US$ 97 billion. It has 28 Cars per 1000 people. However, only 1.2% of its population live below the US$ 1,25 poverty line - which means that there is a much higher general level of prosperity among its people than there is in South Africa.

What it comes down to is the need to be skeptical about statistics. As one commentator observed, they are like bikinis - more important for what they conceal than what they reveal. Nevertheless, whatever South Africa’s real economic ranking in Africa may be, we are slipping with each year that passes. During the past three years the Sub-Saharan economy has grown by an average of 4.5% compared with South Africa’s growth of only 1.3% in 2015 - and projected growth of 0.4% this year.

Dave Steward is Executive Director of the FW de Klerk Foundation.

http://politicsweb.co.za/opinion/does-nigeria-really-have-the-largest-economy-in-af

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCWE

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE

SOUTH AFRICAN ARMS COMPANY IN SAUDI ARABIA:

The new factory was opened on March 27 by South African President Jacob Zuma and by Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. (Prince Mohammed is also his country’s Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and chairperson of the board of directors of the MIC). The facility is located at Al-Kharj, in central Saudi Arabia, south of the capital, Riyadh.

The plant will manufacture 60 mm, 81 mm and 120 mm mortar bombs, 105 mm and 155 mm artillery shells and aircraft bombs ranging from 226 kg (500 lb) to 907 kg (2 000 lb). It is composed of nine industrial buildings, each with its own specific function, including heat treatment and surface treatment, assembly and filling, processing, packaging and destructive and nondestructive testing. According to Almadhi, the factory has a production capa- city of 300 artillery shells or 600 mortar bombs a day. It will be staffed by 130 engineers and operators. He further noted that his company was now able to make many different defence products.

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/sa-defence-company-partners-saudi-arabian-counterpart-in-new-factory-2016-04-22

Gunmen kill five security personnel in Nigerian Delta, oil companies evacuate staff

Gunmen killed two policemen in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta as they slept in a security post on Monday evening and three soldiers were killed in a second attack, police and the army said.

The raids took place a day after five police officers were shot dead in the same region.

Recent violence has raised concern that militants might resume an insurgency that has been quiet for the past several years. A labour union on Tuesday called for the evacuation of oil workers from the region.

The army said it would use "all available means and measures" to crush militants attacking oil facilities, saying: "They will stand to regret the consequences of their actions."

The two policemen, who were asleep on guard duty, were killed in Delta's Rivers state, a police spokesman. The soldiers died in an attack in Bayelsa state, the army said.

http://www.defenceweb.co.za/

Paramount signs contract for local production of Mbombe vehicle in Jordan

Jordan has begun the process of establishing local production facilities for Paramount Group’s 6x6 Mbombe armoured vehicle for the Jordanian Armed Forces.

Paramount Group and Jordan Manufacturing Services Solutions (JMSS) announced the signing of a new contract that will see JMSS leading on the local production and assembly at a dedicated facility in the Dulail-KADDB Industrial Park, Paramount announced during the Special Operations Forces Exhibition & Conference (SOFEX-2016) in Amman, Jordan, today.

Paramount has partnered with JMSS and the King Abdullah II Design Development Bureau (KADDB) on the Mbombe, with the partnership to deliver 50 vehicles to Jordan’s military. Paramount Group has been producing the first Mbombes in South Africa and the process of vehicle delivery has started with the first 25 vehicles expected to be delivered to Jordan over the summer of 2016.

http://www.defenceweb.co.za/

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE

WHAT NIGERIA CLAIMS TO BE INDIGENOUS