The SANDF says it needs an air defence umbrella

The South African National Defence Force's operations chief, Lt Gen Deon Ferreira, says the country can't afford to risk even the remote possibility of air attack on its national territory or on its forces in the field.

He says ground and naval forces must be protected against the threat. Ferreira says the SANDF believes that there are about 180 fighter and attack aircraft in the region. Serviceability is around 30%, meaning that 54 aircraft are useable. He told the bi-annual joint SANDF air defence symposium that there are also about 30 attack helicopters in the region. Serviceability is reckoned at 40%.

The SA Army already has plans to buy a SHORAD/VSHORAD missile system. Shorts and Celsius are already offering Starburst and RBS70+ respectively, and Raytheon may offer Stinger. All three companies exhibited at the symposium. The SA Navy plans to use twin 35mm cannon with AHEAD ammo as CIWS for its new corvettes and may fit a local air defence missile system. The SA Air Defence Consortium (Denel Kentron, Reunert Radar Systems and others) exhibited a new generation vertical launch SAHV-IR (South African High Velocity Infra-Red) missile in support of their bid.

The SA Air Force revealed an ambitious C2-warfare programme that impressed several foreign visitors, notably from Sweden, but little assets to do it with. The programme seemingly depends on an AEW-capability that doesn't presently exist in the SAAF. The Defence Review also didn't specify AEW as an Air Force requirement. It is believed that the SAAF's B707 aerial tanker fleet (5 aircraft in 60 Sqn) have a limited AEW capacity in addition to its electronic warfare capability.

The SAAF's present fighter fleet is old and there's no certainty about its new Gripen fleet (and numbers -presently put at 28 can still be cut). Air defence officers say the SAAF has no ground-based capability.

Defence Systems Daily