NEWS & EVENTS - ACQUISITIONS
21 November 2003
First SAAF Hawk arrives
Acquisitions
The first Hawk fighter trainer jet purchased in terms of the multi-billion rand arms deal arrived in South Africa on Friday, arms procurer Armscor said in Pretoria.It said the Hawk KM (webmater: Mk) 120 was transported by air from Warton in the Unite...
14 October 2003
Indian fighter pilot swops Delhi MiG's for SA's Impala
Acquisitions
English summary: How a 52 year-old Indian air force pilot with more than 5 000 hours joined the SAAF as an instructor on the Impala when he retired from the IAF. Lt Col Rama Iyer is presently working on the training syllabus for the new Hawk tr...
10 September 2003
Midnite to take to the sky
Acquisitions
Erika Gibson Major Musa "Midnite" Mbhokota, assistant project officer, will carry a heavy burden when the new Gripen fighter planes are taken into use. Mbhokota is the first black Cheetah pilot and represents the "face"...
17 August 2003
Cobra helmet-mounted display to equip SA Gripens
Acquisitions
BAE Systems, Saab Aerospace and South African company Cumulus have started work to integrate the former company's Cobra integrated helmet-mounted display (IHMD) system into the JAS 39C/D Gripen swing-role fighter aircraft for the SAAF to be deliv...
14 August 2003
South Africa Confirms Contract For Agustawestland Super Lynx 300
Acquisitions
At a signing ceremony held in Pretoria today, Minister Lekota, Minister of Defence signed the agreement on behalf of the Department of Defence for the supply of four Super Lynx 300 maritime helicopters together with an initial product support package...
19 June 2003
Integrated helmet-mounted display for Gripen
Acquisitions
Saab Aerospace of Sweden and BAE Systems' Avionics' group, in partnership with South Africa's Cumulus, have signed an agreement that will see the latter's Striker integrated helmet-mounted display (IHMD) developed further for use on t...
17 June 2003
New Hawk flies in SA
Acquisitions
BAE Systems recently disclosed that the South African Hawk New Demonstrator Aircraft flew for the first time with the Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour Mk 951 engine on 27 May. The sortie, at the South African Air Force's (SAAF's) Test Flight and D...
26 February 2003
New Maritime Helicopters Approved
Acquisitions
Excerpt from Finance Minister Trevor Manuel's 2003 budget speech today:'Additional allocations to the South African National Defence Force provide for the acquisitions of four maritime helicopters and R200 million a year to contribute to the ...
17 February 2003
Denel Aviation Has Started Final Assembly Of The SAAF A109 Light Utility Helicopter
Acquisitions
AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica and GKN company, announced that the final assembly of the first Agusta A109 Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) airframe for the South African Air Force, has started in South Africa at the Denel Aviation facilities. Denel Av...
12 December 2002
Rooivalk: not just any old helicopter
Acquisitions
It can co-ordinate various functions, has adapted to challengesWhen government announced the commissioning of the Rooivalk into service, mainly in support of peacekeeping operations, some reports welcomed Rooivalk's future contribution to SA'...
5 December 2002
Cabinet approves Rooivalk
Acquisitions
Cabinet has approved a request by the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) to commission the locally manufactured Rooivalk combat support helicopter, government spokesperson Joel Netshitenzhe said on Thursday. "The helicopter programme represents s...
21 November 2002
South African battlespace C2 framework in the making
Acquisitions
An integrated command and control (C2) systems masterplan, developed under the auspices of Project Erabus, has been submitted for approval by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). Intended as a blueprint for all three services, a number o...
28 October 2002
Black pilot makes history - again
Acquisitions
South Africa's most senior fully qualified black fighter pilot, Captain Musa "Midnight" Mbhokota, has made history -- again. In a joint exercise in Sweden with the chief of the South African Air Force, Lieutenant General Roelf Beukes, h...
22 October 2002
New BBJ arrives!
Acquisitions
Inkwanzi, or fish eagle, President Thabo Mbeki's controversial jet, landed at Waterkloof airbase minutes shortly after 00:00 on Tuesday, air force spokesperson Francois Coetzee said.The intercontinental Boeing Business Jet was flown on a non-stop...
20 October 2002
R535m jet for President will be landing soon
Acquisitions
SOUTH Africas R535-million presidential jet could arrive in the country tonight, according to Sam Mkhwanazi, spokesman for Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota. According to Armscors annual report the Boeing Business Jet, which can reach destinations in A...
18 October 2002
Presidential jet costs detailed
Acquisitions
Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota today disclosed further details of the new presidential jet, revealing that value added tax of about R82-million will be paid in addition to the more than R500-million purchase price. Lekota said the initial price of t...
23 August 2002
Flying New Jets on Empty Tanks
Acquisitions
By Peter HoneyIt was a terrible year, truly terrible - the worst I have experienced since taking command," says air force chief Lt Gen Roelf Beukes.He's speaking about 2001, when the air force started the year with an R85m (4,4%) budget defi...
27 July 2002
President's new jet on its way
Acquisitions
President Thabo Mbeki will be able to take to the skies in style in September with the South African Air Force's first inter-continental VIP aircraft scheduled to arrive in the country within three weeks.The Boeing Business Jet, which will cost S...
18 June 2002
SA lacks resources for new air force planes
Acquisitions
The SA Air Force does not have the financial or personnel resources to allow full operational readiness of the new jet fighters and trainers that make up a large part of the R53bn strategic arms acquisitions.The choice of aircraft has been the subjec...
21 May 2002
Defence has spent R203m on consultants
Acquisitions
Advice on arms deal cost about R23mParliamentary Editor CAPE TOWN The defence department had spent more than R203m on consultants with about R23m on the strategic defence packages during the past two years, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said yester...
5 April 2002
Government goes ahead with fighter-plane deal
Acquisitions
The South African government has ignored opposition and civil society calls to cancel the purchase of 12 extra British Aerospace Hawk trainer jets in the second part of a fighter-aircraft deal expected to gobble R24-billion out of the nation's tr...
23 January 2002
Where are the new BBJ pilots?
Acquisitions
President Thabo Mbeki's new business jet is to be delivered later this year, but manning the jet may become a problem as the Air Force faces pilot shortages.Only six operational pilots (three crews of two each) out of the entire Air Force qualify...
1 January 2002
No jet in Mbeki's Xmas sock, yet
Acquisitions
President Thabo Mbeki's new jet, worth more than R600 million was not ready to be piloted in by Santa this year, but will be delivered late next year. The cabins of the jet will be decorated in a "modern-day African theme" and the aerop...
11 December 2001
Thales signs new co-operation agreement with South Africa
Acquisitions
Thales Avionics has signed a co-operation contract with the South African firm AMS (Aerospace Monitoring and Systems (Pty) Ltd) for the development of the vehicle management module (VMM) on A109-LUH helicopters. This contract is part of the offset ag...
4 December 2001
Arms deal spending may face cutbacks
Acquisitions
Financing the multi billion-rand arms deal would have no effect on the projected 2002/03 budget deficit of 2,6 percent, but the department of defence might have toreassess whether it could afford all tranches of the deal given its budgets for the nex...
First SAAF Hawk arrives
Acquisitions
The first Hawk fighter trainer jet purchased in terms of the multi-billion rand arms deal arrived in South Africa on Friday, arms procurer Armscor said in Pretoria.It said the Hawk KM (webmater: Mk) 120 was transported by air from Warton in the Unite...
Indian fighter pilot swops Delhi MiG's for SA's Impala
Acquisitions
English summary: How a 52 year-old Indian air force pilot with more than 5 000 hours joined the SAAF as an instructor on the Impala when he retired from the IAF. Lt Col Rama Iyer is presently working on the training syllabus for the new Hawk tr...
Midnite to take to the sky
Acquisitions
Erika Gibson Major Musa "Midnite" Mbhokota, assistant project officer, will carry a heavy burden when the new Gripen fighter planes are taken into use. Mbhokota is the first black Cheetah pilot and represents the "face"...
Cobra helmet-mounted display to equip SA Gripens
Acquisitions
BAE Systems, Saab Aerospace and South African company Cumulus have started work to integrate the former company's Cobra integrated helmet-mounted display (IHMD) system into the JAS 39C/D Gripen swing-role fighter aircraft for the SAAF to be deliv...
South Africa Confirms Contract For Agustawestland Super Lynx 300
Acquisitions
At a signing ceremony held in Pretoria today, Minister Lekota, Minister of Defence signed the agreement on behalf of the Department of Defence for the supply of four Super Lynx 300 maritime helicopters together with an initial product support package...
Integrated helmet-mounted display for Gripen
Acquisitions
Saab Aerospace of Sweden and BAE Systems' Avionics' group, in partnership with South Africa's Cumulus, have signed an agreement that will see the latter's Striker integrated helmet-mounted display (IHMD) developed further for use on t...
New Hawk flies in SA
Acquisitions
BAE Systems recently disclosed that the South African Hawk New Demonstrator Aircraft flew for the first time with the Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour Mk 951 engine on 27 May. The sortie, at the South African Air Force's (SAAF's) Test Flight and D...
New Maritime Helicopters Approved
Acquisitions
Excerpt from Finance Minister Trevor Manuel's 2003 budget speech today:'Additional allocations to the South African National Defence Force provide for the acquisitions of four maritime helicopters and R200 million a year to contribute to the ...
Denel Aviation Has Started Final Assembly Of The SAAF A109 Light Utility Helicopter
Acquisitions
AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica and GKN company, announced that the final assembly of the first Agusta A109 Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) airframe for the South African Air Force, has started in South Africa at the Denel Aviation facilities. Denel Av...
Rooivalk: not just any old helicopter
Acquisitions
It can co-ordinate various functions, has adapted to challengesWhen government announced the commissioning of the Rooivalk into service, mainly in support of peacekeeping operations, some reports welcomed Rooivalk's future contribution to SA'...
Cabinet approves Rooivalk
Acquisitions
Cabinet has approved a request by the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) to commission the locally manufactured Rooivalk combat support helicopter, government spokesperson Joel Netshitenzhe said on Thursday. "The helicopter programme represents s...
South African battlespace C2 framework in the making
Acquisitions
An integrated command and control (C2) systems masterplan, developed under the auspices of Project Erabus, has been submitted for approval by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). Intended as a blueprint for all three services, a number o...
Black pilot makes history - again
Acquisitions
South Africa's most senior fully qualified black fighter pilot, Captain Musa "Midnight" Mbhokota, has made history -- again. In a joint exercise in Sweden with the chief of the South African Air Force, Lieutenant General Roelf Beukes, h...
New BBJ arrives!
Acquisitions
Inkwanzi, or fish eagle, President Thabo Mbeki's controversial jet, landed at Waterkloof airbase minutes shortly after 00:00 on Tuesday, air force spokesperson Francois Coetzee said.The intercontinental Boeing Business Jet was flown on a non-stop...
R535m jet for President will be landing soon
Acquisitions
SOUTH Africas R535-million presidential jet could arrive in the country tonight, according to Sam Mkhwanazi, spokesman for Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota. According to Armscors annual report the Boeing Business Jet, which can reach destinations in A...
Presidential jet costs detailed
Acquisitions
Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota today disclosed further details of the new presidential jet, revealing that value added tax of about R82-million will be paid in addition to the more than R500-million purchase price. Lekota said the initial price of t...
Flying New Jets on Empty Tanks
Acquisitions
By Peter HoneyIt was a terrible year, truly terrible - the worst I have experienced since taking command," says air force chief Lt Gen Roelf Beukes.He's speaking about 2001, when the air force started the year with an R85m (4,4%) budget defi...
President's new jet on its way
Acquisitions
President Thabo Mbeki will be able to take to the skies in style in September with the South African Air Force's first inter-continental VIP aircraft scheduled to arrive in the country within three weeks.The Boeing Business Jet, which will cost S...
SA lacks resources for new air force planes
Acquisitions
The SA Air Force does not have the financial or personnel resources to allow full operational readiness of the new jet fighters and trainers that make up a large part of the R53bn strategic arms acquisitions.The choice of aircraft has been the subjec...
Defence has spent R203m on consultants
Acquisitions
Advice on arms deal cost about R23mParliamentary Editor CAPE TOWN The defence department had spent more than R203m on consultants with about R23m on the strategic defence packages during the past two years, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said yester...
Government goes ahead with fighter-plane deal
Acquisitions
The South African government has ignored opposition and civil society calls to cancel the purchase of 12 extra British Aerospace Hawk trainer jets in the second part of a fighter-aircraft deal expected to gobble R24-billion out of the nation's tr...
Where are the new BBJ pilots?
Acquisitions
President Thabo Mbeki's new business jet is to be delivered later this year, but manning the jet may become a problem as the Air Force faces pilot shortages.Only six operational pilots (three crews of two each) out of the entire Air Force qualify...
No jet in Mbeki's Xmas sock, yet
Acquisitions
President Thabo Mbeki's new jet, worth more than R600 million was not ready to be piloted in by Santa this year, but will be delivered late next year. The cabins of the jet will be decorated in a "modern-day African theme" and the aerop...
Thales signs new co-operation agreement with South Africa
Acquisitions
Thales Avionics has signed a co-operation contract with the South African firm AMS (Aerospace Monitoring and Systems (Pty) Ltd) for the development of the vehicle management module (VMM) on A109-LUH helicopters. This contract is part of the offset ag...
Arms deal spending may face cutbacks
Acquisitions
Financing the multi billion-rand arms deal would have no effect on the projected 2002/03 budget deficit of 2,6 percent, but the department of defence might have toreassess whether it could afford all tranches of the deal given its budgets for the nex...
