The South African Army is purchasing night vision tubes worth R3 million from vendor ECM Technologies. The order was placed last month. It adds to the some R238 million spent on night vision equipment since 2007.
In addition to the R241 223 912.08 spent on new equipment, some R17 241 102.51 has been spent on maintenance and repair.
The equipment replaces dated technology based on first and second generation image intensifiers.
The acquisitions appear separate from Project Cytoon that is seeing the SA Army Tactical Intelligence Corps gaining 14 Thales Squire ground surveillance radars and 65 Thales Sophie thermal imagers.
Thermal imagers detect radiation in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Since most objects emit such radiation, thermal imagers allow their users to “see” their surroundings with or without visible light. The warmer the object, the brighter the object appears in the imager. Humans, with an internal body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius tend to stand out against their surroundings, which are mostly cooler. This also allows thermal imagers to spot camouflaged targets. Many modern thermal imagers include an eye-safe laser rangefinder and pointer, a compass, GPS and digital camera. The Thales Sophie can spot humans at over 4km, tanks at 10km, helicopters at 12km and jet fighters at 16km, Thales says.
CYTOON
Acquisition of a tactical intelligence system for the South African Army – extension of EBEB/2005/185
BEB/S2008/2232 11 Mar 2009 R67 397 005,00 Thales Defence Systems (Pty) Ltd
BEB/S2010/2376 19 Aug 2010 R67 205 764,00 Thales Defence Systems (Pty) Ltd
ACQUISITIONS
Procurement of night vision tubes for the South African Army
ELGS/2010/329 21 Apr 2011 R3 063 700,00 ECM Technologies CC
Supply of MNVM-14 single tube night vision monocular
ESDS/2010/1 8 Sep 2010 R70 995 600,00 Afrimeasure (Pty) Ltd
Acquisition of Night Vision Equipment for the SANDF
ESDS/2007/44 17 May 2010 R83 017 000,00 O.E.N Enterprises (Pty) Ltd
Procurement of night vision equipment – extension of ESDS/2007/44
SDS/S2008/1874 19 Feb 2009 R83 017 000,00 O.E.N Enterprises (Pty) Ltd
Mini monocular and accessories
ESCW/2007/148 24 Oct 2007 R482 547,08 MRS Techniques CC
Elvir thermal imagers
ESCW/2006/621 21 Jun 2007 R648 065,00 Gallic Equipment cc
MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR
Maintenance and repair of night vision equipment
ERES/2010/248 9 Dec 2010 R285 215,31 Spektrum Logistieke Ondersteuningsdienste BK
Maintenance & repair of night vision equipment – extension of ELGS/2006/511
LGS/S2008/3939 4 Jun 2009 R2 712 080,56 Spektrum Logistieke Ondersteuningsdienste BK
Maintenance services of Optical Night Vision Equipment – extension of ELGS/2003/573
LGS/S2006/3344 28 Mar 2007 R130 082,00 Spektrum Logistieke Ondersteuningsdienste BK
Maintenance and repair of Night Vision equipment for the Department of Defence
ELGS/2006/511 15 Feb 2007 R9 552 322,64 Spektrum Logistieke Ondersteuningsdienste BK
LGS/S2009/4331 6 May 2010 R4 561 402,00 Spektrum Logistieke Ondersteuningsdienste BK
