SAAF selects C295 for transport and maritime roles?
Date: 26 September 2014
DESPITE NO official announcement having been made up to the time of writing, at Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) 2014, held at AFB Waterkloof from September 17 to 21, it was reliably learnt from discussions with relevant squadron personnel that the South African Air Force (SAAF) has selected the Airbus C295 to satisfy its present requirement for both a light to medium capacity tactical transport and maritime patrol aircraft. From the outset, the SAAF has pushed for a common airframe to fulfill both requirements in the interests of reduced cost of ownership.
According to the SAAF personnel, an initial two airframes (precise variant unknown) are due for delivery in January 2016, with various options to be exercised thereafter. The total number of airframes involved and the degree of local systems content (if any) to be incorporated in the new acquisitions remains unknown at this stage.
The SAAF has been unable to fulfill its transport mandate adequately in the last few years, owing to a chronic shortage of serviceable airframes. The initial fleet of four CASA 212s inherited from 1994, when South Africa became a democracy, has suffered from poor serviceability due to type obsolescence and spares unavailability. The fleet was reduced permanently by one when C212-300 8021 suffered an inadvertent application of the engine thrust reversers prior to landing at Tempe Airfield, Bloemfontein, on January 17, 2013, during a paratrooping exercise. The type’s box-like fuselage has also proven tricky to operate in strong crosswinds, as exemplified by the minor damage to one wing on take-off from AFB Bloemspruit on October 16, 2008, in which C212-200 8011 was involved. This aircraft was repaired and was on static display at AAD. Significantly, unlike in previous years, no C212s flew during the show.
The C-47TP fleet has also been reduced to only three transport-dedicated airframes, following the permanent loss of two examples in rapid succession. The first, 6877, succumbed on November 7, 2012, after departing the runway at Mthatha Airport and colliding with a construction ditch sustaining category 5.1 (write-off) damage. Less than a month later, eleven personnel died when 6840 crashed in what appears to have been a classic case of controlled flight into terrain whilst en route from Waterkloof to Mthatha Airport on December 5, 2012. This aircraft, finished in the striking Silver Falcons colours, had only publicly been revealed for the first time on September 17 during AAD 2012. It was to have served as the principle logistical transport in support of the aerobatic team’s deployments around southern Africa. Its loss had an immediate negative effect which could be seen during subsequent appearances of the Silver Falcons, when supporting ground crews had to be driven, rather than flown as previously, to even distant display locations.
One C-47TP-EW 6828 still operates, while the former photography example, 6837, has given up this role to instead become a more urgently needed transport dedicated example. Five maritime patrol C-47TP-MP Block 2s are still extant with 35 Squadron at AFB Ysterplaat. These are to be replaced with a maritime variant of the C295, while the three remaining transport C-47TPs with 35 Squadron and the existing three C212s, plus one already retired CN235-10 will all be replaced by an unknown number of transport C295s.
The poor state of serviceability of the SAAF’s transport fleet was glaringly brought to the fore during AAD 2014. Lockheed C-130BZ Hercules 402, wearing its special tail markings celebrating 20 years of democracy, appeared in the ‘mini war’ demonstration on Saturday 20, only to be kitted out with stretchers that night to be flown up to Lagos, Nigeria, the following day in order to return the numerous seriously injured survivors from the earlier collapse of TB Joshua’s five-story building. The fact that another Hercules could not be substituted in its place for the airshow may well suggest that it was the only C-130 serviceable at that time. Clinton Barnard
According to the SAAF personnel, an initial two airframes (precise variant unknown) are due for delivery in January 2016, with various options to be exercised thereafter. The total number of airframes involved and the degree of local systems content (if any) to be incorporated in the new acquisitions remains unknown at this stage.
The SAAF has been unable to fulfill its transport mandate adequately in the last few years, owing to a chronic shortage of serviceable airframes. The initial fleet of four CASA 212s inherited from 1994, when South Africa became a democracy, has suffered from poor serviceability due to type obsolescence and spares unavailability. The fleet was reduced permanently by one when C212-300 8021 suffered an inadvertent application of the engine thrust reversers prior to landing at Tempe Airfield, Bloemfontein, on January 17, 2013, during a paratrooping exercise. The type’s box-like fuselage has also proven tricky to operate in strong crosswinds, as exemplified by the minor damage to one wing on take-off from AFB Bloemspruit on October 16, 2008, in which C212-200 8011 was involved. This aircraft was repaired and was on static display at AAD. Significantly, unlike in previous years, no C212s flew during the show.
The C-47TP fleet has also been reduced to only three transport-dedicated airframes, following the permanent loss of two examples in rapid succession. The first, 6877, succumbed on November 7, 2012, after departing the runway at Mthatha Airport and colliding with a construction ditch sustaining category 5.1 (write-off) damage. Less than a month later, eleven personnel died when 6840 crashed in what appears to have been a classic case of controlled flight into terrain whilst en route from Waterkloof to Mthatha Airport on December 5, 2012. This aircraft, finished in the striking Silver Falcons colours, had only publicly been revealed for the first time on September 17 during AAD 2012. It was to have served as the principle logistical transport in support of the aerobatic team’s deployments around southern Africa. Its loss had an immediate negative effect which could be seen during subsequent appearances of the Silver Falcons, when supporting ground crews had to be driven, rather than flown as previously, to even distant display locations.
One C-47TP-EW 6828 still operates, while the former photography example, 6837, has given up this role to instead become a more urgently needed transport dedicated example. Five maritime patrol C-47TP-MP Block 2s are still extant with 35 Squadron at AFB Ysterplaat. These are to be replaced with a maritime variant of the C295, while the three remaining transport C-47TPs with 35 Squadron and the existing three C212s, plus one already retired CN235-10 will all be replaced by an unknown number of transport C295s.
The poor state of serviceability of the SAAF’s transport fleet was glaringly brought to the fore during AAD 2014. Lockheed C-130BZ Hercules 402, wearing its special tail markings celebrating 20 years of democracy, appeared in the ‘mini war’ demonstration on Saturday 20, only to be kitted out with stretchers that night to be flown up to Lagos, Nigeria, the following day in order to return the numerous seriously injured survivors from the earlier collapse of TB Joshua’s five-story building. The fact that another Hercules could not be substituted in its place for the airshow may well suggest that it was the only C-130 serviceable at that time. Clinton Barnard
Source: AirForces Daily
Webmaster note:
It has previosuly been reported that Project Saucepan has been split into two seperate projects, with Project Kiepie looking at the transport requirement and Project Metsi looking at the martime patrol/surveillance requirement.
