Additional transport aircraft high on SAAF’s priority list

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Medium and strategic airlift are at the centre of the South African Air Force’s (SAAF’s) attention due to its commitments on the African continent, Chief of the SAAF Lieutenant General Wiseman Mbambo has said.

Mbambo’s comments come amid reports that National Treasury is allocating funding for C-130 Hercules aircraft. The SAAF will need to decide whether to upgrade its existing C-130BZs or accept retired C-130s from the United States, which would also need to be upgraded. Last year the US offered the SAAF a dozen retired H model Hercules under its Excess Defence Articles (EDA) programme. A SAAF technical team travelled to the United States in September to examine the aircraft.

In mid-2022, the South African Department of Defence revealed that it was exploring upgrading the C-130BZ Hercules fleet of five airworthy aircraft plus one in storage at a cost of R1.6 billion, as the fleet only has a couple more years of life in it before upgrades are needed.

Mbambo, in response to a defenceWeb question on acquiring additional C-130s, said “in our road going forward, the medium lift capability is right in the centre of our attention. Also, there is a lot of talk around the strategic lift capability. This is not a surprise as to why this capability is being mentioned. The reality we face is South Africa is not in a strategic position. Our location cannot be changed. We need to have very strong legs to connect ourselves to the rest of the continent and the world.”

Lieutenant General Wiseman Mbambo.

Mbambo, speaking to the media following the SAAF’s Prestige Day Parade at Air Force Base Swartkop on 27 January to celebrate the force’s 103rd anniversary, said the transport capability is very important in terms of C-130s and, going forward, strategic lift, especially if South Africa has its troops moving up and down the continent. At present, the National Defence Force has troops deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique.

Mbambo added that National Treasury “is warming up” towards funding medium and strategic lift, and “that is very very very good.”

Mbambo indicated the SAAF is still deciding whether to fund the upgrade of the current C-130BZs, as funding is needed to get a number of them flyable, or accepting donated C-130Hs that will also require funding to upgrade.

With regard to the Gripen fleet, a maintenance contract with Saab was signed last year, allowing a couple of aircraft to return to the air and fly at the Africa Aerospace and Defence exhibition in September, but defenceWeb understands an engine support contract with GKN has yet to be signed. No Gripens took part in the SAAF’s Prestige Day Parade flypast, but Mbambo is confident two Gripens will be made available for Armed Forces Day on 21 February.

Mbambo said the SAAF plans to have 13 Gripens back in the air, as per the contract with Saab, but could not give a timeline on that.

The Chief of the SAAF made mention of the “serious issues” facing the Air Force, notably the chronic lack of funds. “This Air Force has tasted what greatness is and at the same time this Air Force has tasted what adversity is and what it is to live with limited funding.” Rebuilding capabilities is something the SAAF aims to do in order to return to its former glory and ensure it is “fully operational across different capability areas, so people have no doubt the Air Force is there.”

“The limitations are real and the constraints are real. If we can just switch to how we approach these problems and provide different solutions we can find a way going forward,” Mbambo said.

In his Prestige Day Parade speech, Mbambo said that “when a common pool form which everyone goes to for quenching their thirst is shrinking, nobody is spared from the consequent results. Our national pool – the South African economy – is currently not in a good shape. The snowball impact is felt everywhere including in the Department of Defence and equally in the South African Air Force. As this reality continues, the mandate of the Air Force to ensure South Africa’s airspace territorial integrity still remains. Furthermore, the increased demand for air assets due to the upsurge of various security threats and disasters cannot be wished away.”

Mbambo quoted defence minister Thandi Modise, who last year said there is a widening dichotomy between that which the SANDF is expected to achieve and the resources that are provided to achieve these expectations.

Mbambo said the SAAF is looking at different approaches to deal with the problem of scarce resources. “Our continuous engagements withal key roleplayers to bring Air Force capabilities to the required combat readiness status is persistent.”

The SAAF Chief mentioned that “we still believe that as the military organisation we must continue to grow our own timber.” He said, “we are going to accelerate the inhouse capabilities in the SAAF this year and beyond. Already there are visible seeds in certain areas which we shall unveil before the end of this year.”