Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) 2022 was “significant,” the senior communication official in Minister Thandi Modise’s Department of Defence (DoD) maintains.
Head of communication Siphiwe Dlamini ascribes this, among others, to 70% of exhibitors at Air Force Base (AFB) Waterkloof being South African. Writing in Johannesburg daily The Citizen, he calls this “apt testimony to the kind of innovation that has continued to take place despite cuts in funding for the SA National Defence Force (SANDF)”.
Taking stock of the exhibition – the first in four years with 2020 cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic – he notes 200 exhibitors from 24 countries were at the base in Centurion, south of Pretoria, offering a range of technologies.
“Defence industries worldwide,” he wrote, “are traditionally set up to service their own country’s sovereign defence needs. In South Africa, this is no longer the case because the defence budget has been slashed, leading to ongoing delays over the key Project Hoefyster, established to replace the SA National Defence Force’s (SANDF’s) ageing fleet of Ratel IFVs (infantry fighting vehicles)”.
“In the absence of this project, many South African companies used the opportunity provided by AAD to step forward with own innovative solutions to the Hoefyster crisis: from 8×8 and 6×6 wheeled IFV variants to the much cheaper Ratel service life extension plan that could improve serviceability of the almost 50-year-old design.
“One local company [Truvelo] was saved from bankruptcy between AAD 2018 and 2022 and has since branched out from manufacturing world-class anti-materiel and sniper rifles to developing an entire range of assault rifles.
“Other South African companies developed high-tech UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). Another announced the first order for a high-altitude multi-role reconnaissance aircraft [Mwari], only the second indigenously conceptualised and manufactured [manned military] aircraft in [South] Africa since the development of the Rooivalk attack helicopter.
“There were other innovations as well – a local company creating tented solutions for full-scale hospitals from 500 to 5 000 beds, complete with ICU wards, scrub rooms and operating theatres.
“AAD 2022 was also more behind the scenes: Armscor chief executive advocate Solomzi Mbada had a minimum of six meetings a day with different government and defence industry representatives to discuss requirements, as well as ways to address our national defence force’s needs.
“He discovered it’s not only South Africa caught in the vice-like grip of diminished defence spending, but other countries as well. The only answer is cost-effective collaboration, whether using our defence industry’s capacity to manufacture for overseas companies, or licensing our IP (intellectual property) and transferring our skills to other countries to forge long-lasting relationships.
“The SANDF displayed its prime mission equipment; the majority of which is now old but still combat-ready at a moment’s notice – testament to the immense professionalism of soldiers and commanders to maintain and safeguard what they have.
“Our defence force is forging ahead with plans to meet its commitments, modernise doctrines and showcase abilities, whether in brigade scale exercises at the SA Army’s Combat Training Centre (CTC) in Lohathla or performing airborne assaults in front of its own people at AAD.
“The biggest story was the return of the Gripen fighter aircraft after their public grounding. Joined by fighter trainer BAE Hawks and the SA Air Force (SAAF) Silver Falcons, they were watched by 1 000 young South Africans, pupils transported from all parts of the country to be inspired in Pretoria.
“The pupils attended motivational talks by our own pilots and the US Air Force (USAF) on possible career choices – and the need to focus on maths and science at school. They would have been thrilled by the innovation on display and possible job opportunities in the defence industry – again on the caveat that they excel in their studies.
“The major story is one of resetting the narrative. South Africa has many challenges. All of us know this, but there are also success stories which don’t attract the headlines or attention. AAD 2022 did just that.
“As Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Thandi Modise said: ‘For the sceptics who say nothing is working, a lot of things are beginning to work in the defence force.’
“The SANDF and our defence industry are national jewels. AAD 2022 was an opportunity to appreciate both,” Dlamini concluded.
Published with appreciation and attribution to The Citizen.
