Pretoria-based Redeployable Camp Systems South Africa (RCSSA), part of the Canvas and Tent Group, has completed the supply of a mess facility as part of the South African National Defence Force’s (SANDF’s) Project Teamster.
Armscor has been delivering the various components of Project Teamster to the SANDF, with requirements for 50 and 200 man kitchens, as well as mess facilities, delivered and completed in 2021, with the first transport trailers delivered to the SA Army, the primary user of the new feeding system. The rest of the transport trailers will be delivered during the 2021/22 financial year, according to Armscor.
Project Teamster is replacing the mobile field kitchen capability of the SANDF with more modern diesel-fired technology.
RCSSA, along with several contractors, supplied eleven mess facilities for Project Teamster. According to RCSSA’s group marketing manager Karen Coetzer, the mess contract included mess halls, each accommodating 200 people, a containerised dishwashing unit, generator and support equipment.
“The mess tent is 32 metres in length and 10 metres wide, constructed of a modular barrel shaped steel frame, which is covered by a durable, flame-retardant PVC fabric barrel cover. It is supplied with vestibules at the four entrances,” she explained.
“The mess tent was specifically designed for the SANDF’s requirement and, to date, the largest barrel shaped tent manufactured and supplied by RCSSA. It is on a raised floor to allow the erecting of the structure in areas with possible high rainfall and muddy or uneven ground.”
The contract also required the integration of high-throughput dishwashers in special purpose low cube containers, transport and storage containers for the mess tent, as well as the 125 kVa generator. The 5.5-ton generator, fed by a 1 000-litre diesel tank, is integrated in a six metre ISO container. The generator can be connected to an external three-phase power supply such as Eskom or similar and will automatically start and provide three-phase supply after external power is interrupted.
“As with all modular systems that we provide, the mess tent power distribution is essentially ‘plug-and-play’. Electrical distribution boards are pre-assembled and electricity is distribution via harnesses to power outlets and connectors,” Coetzer explained. “High quality and reliable LED lighting is utilised throughout the facility.”
The entire mess facility was designed for C-130 air transportability to enable rapid deployment by the SANDF to anywhere in the country or within the rest of Africa.
“It must be noted that RCSSA contracted several Enterprise Supplier Development (ESD) companies for the manufacturing and or supply of products,” she noted.
The contract for the turnkey redeployable mess facilities was executed at the end of 2019 and is currently being supported by RCSSA in the operational phase.
Various other companies have been involved in supplying components of Project Teamster, such as Cambro and Saab. OTT Solutions and Desert Wolf were awarded the first phase of Teamster, for 15 person field cooking units, in early 2016. In 2017 Saab was awarded a contract to deliver a Mass Field Feeding Capability over a two-year period under the next phase of Project Teamster. This comprises 24 x 50-man systems and 11 x 200-man systems.
The 200-man system consists of a fully equipped Expandable Kitchen Unit, a Reefer Unit, for cold storage of rations, Utility Unit, to accommodate potable water, diesel and waste water and a Storage Unit. The 50-man system consists of a fully equipped expandable unit and bladders to handle potable and waste water.
