Lurker4Long:
-bigfoot
-reva
-isotrex legion
-ezugwu
-Kia
-caiman
-maxxpro
-phantom
-dongfeng
-ara

The NA logs and maintenance guys must have an enduring nightmare with so many different vehicles to look after. Plus, with no economies of scale, procuring spare parts must cost a fortune.

The average Nigerian roadside mechanic can repair at least two brands of vehicles, and most of these vehicles share parts with numerous civilian cars.
I don't know where the nightmare will come from.

Lurker4Long:
-bigfoot
-reva
-isotrex legion
-ezugwu
-Kia
-caiman
-maxxpro
-phantom
-dongfeng
-ara

The NA logs and maintenance guys must have an enduring nightmare with so many different vehicles to look after. Plus, with no economies of scale, procuring spare parts must cost a fortune.

Reva, Caiman and Maxxpro are no longer operational.

100 units each of CS/VP3, Donfeng, Legion and Phantom were purchased.

ARA, Ezugwu and Viper are made in Nigeria.

I don't see how procurement of parts would be an issue considering the Nigerian army purchased vehicles from only 2 countries, China and the UAE.

shadowprimezero:


Reva, Caiman and Maxxpro are no longer operational for this very reason.

Says who? Can you cite sources to support this?

Even the US military doesn't use one brand of vehicle. How many different types of MRAPs did the Americans deploy in Afghanistan?

shadowprimezero:


Reva, Caiman and Maxxpro are no longer operational for this very reason.

Blowing hot air over nothing. The Caiman and Maxxpro were second hand vehicles from America. The Reva did not do well in Nigerian military service. If this wasn't the case there would have been a repeat order as we have seen with the Bigfoot MRAP.

jl115:
I like!!!

Good looking vehicle. Proforce' progress is impressive.

kabe1:


Blowing hot air over nothing. The Caiman and Maxxpro were second hand vehicles from America. The Reva did not do well in Nigerian military service. If this wasn't the case there would have been a repeat order as we have seen with the Bigfoot MRAP.

I wasn't talking about repeat orders per se, but NA's ability to conduct deep repairs and refurbishment of existing vehicles that were damaged. NA has done so in the past by refurbishing Cobras, Piranhas, VBLs,Vickers, and other old gen platforms mostly because they were able to build up experience on the platforms and had the option to cannibalise others for spare parts at SVP Bauchi.

While the Caimans and Maxxpros were second hand, NA still had no excuse not the procure spares and train its personell on extensive repair works. Their life of service could have been stretched extensively.

With so many different platforms of the same class now in operation the same time, the Engineering Corps has a massive logistical challenge ahead of it in maintaining these platforms. NA Engineers wouldn't have been forced to make those atrocious Conqueror MRAPs as a stop gap if high command had planned better

shadowprimezero:


I wasn't talking about repeat orders per se, but NA's ability to conduct deep repairs and refurbishment of existing vehicles that were damaged. NA has done so in the past by refurbishing Cobras, Piranhas, VBLs,Vickers, and other old gen platforms mostly because they were able to build up experience on the platforms and had the option to cannibalise others for spare parts at SVP Bauchi.

While the Caimans and Maxxpros were second hand, NA still had no excuse not the procure spares and train its personell on extensive repair works. Their life of service could have been stretched extensively.

With so many different platforms of the same class now in operation the same time, the Engineering Corps has a massive logistical challenge ahead of it in maintaining these platforms. NA Engineers wouldn't have been forced to make those atrocious Conqueror MRAPs as a stop gap if high command had planned better

You’re contradicting yourself young man

shadowprimezero:


I wasn't talking about repeat orders per se, but NA's ability to conduct deep repairs and refurbishment of existing vehicles that were damaged. NA has done so in the past by refurbishing Cobras, Piranhas, VBLs,Vickers, and other old gen platforms mostly because they were able to build up experience on the platforms and had the option to cannibalise others for spare parts at SVP Bauchi.

Bro, you are contradicting yourself here. If the Nigerian army has done deep repairs in the past, can you post evidence they couldn't do same repairs on the Reva, Caiman and Maxxpro?

This is an example of a deep repair done on the Reva MRAP. This officially destroys the argument on NA repair capacity you were trying to make.

shadowprimezero:



While the Caimans and Maxxpros were second hand, NA still had no excuse not the procure spares and train its personell on extensive repair works. Their life of service could have been stretched extensively.

This argument is also faulty.

The vehicles that were donated to Nigeria were not all in a good shape. See pictures attached. You cannot claim that NA should have stretched the life of the MRAPs extensively when the said MRAPs were not even in a good shape when they were donated to Nigeria.

Look at the tyres.

shadowprimezero:



With so many different platforms of the same class now in operation the same time, the Engineering Corps has a massive logistical challenge ahead of it in maintaining these platforms. NA Engineers wouldn't have been forced to make those atrocious Conqueror MRAPs as a stop gap if high command had planned better

The Nigerian army has purchased vehicles from China, the UAE and Nigeria.

I don't see any logistical challenge anywhere as most of our armour come from China.

The Conqueror vehicles were canibalized from various Nigerian army vehicles. It was just a necessity to provide troops with some sort of protection and not an indictment of the Nigerian army.

Lurker4Long:
-bigfoot
-reva
-isotrex legion
-ezugwu
-Kia
-caiman
-maxxpro
-phantom
-dongfeng
-ara

The NA logs and maintenance guys must have an enduring nightmare with so many different vehicles to look after. Plus, with no economies of scale, procuring spare parts must cost a fortune.

Pro Force are producing some seriously impressive MRAPs they should really go full out for an indigenous APCs

jl115:
Pro Force are producing some seriously impressive MRAPs they should really go full out for an indigenous APCs

Agreed. Proforce's current production capacity of 20 Ara/month can be a starting point. A guaranteed multi-year procurement programme from the military with increasing output/year, would allow the company to increase capacity organically, and gradual standardisation for the military.

SAAF Gripens grounded


The South African Air Force’s (SAAF’s) Gripen fleet is temporarily grounded, with no aircraft serviceable, due to a lack of funding and maintenance and support contracts not being renewed in time.


It is believed that half the Gripen fleet of 26 aircraft has been cannibalised for spare parts, while air crew have lost currency due to a lack of flight hours. This is compounded by a lack of PC-7 Mk II trainers available.

For example, there are only around a dozen Oryx available out of a fleet of roughly 40. Over the last year only around a third of the Hawk fleet has been operational. Much of the eight-strong C-130BZ Hercules fleet is unserviceable, although two aircraft are airworthy and flying after a major service, and two more are undergoing scheduled maintenance.

https://www.defenceweb.co.za/aerospace/aerospace-aerospace/saaf-gripens-grounded/

Someone is forgetting the IGIRIGI, our very first born. But what's up with the IGIRIGI, we hardly see them in the theatre, at least from pictures coming from thence.

kabe1:


Reva, Caiman and Maxxpro are no longer operational.

100 units each of CS/VP3, Donfeng, Legion and Phantom were purchased.

ARA, Ezugwu and Viper are made in Nigeria.

I don't see how procurement of parts would be an issue considering the Nigerian army purchased vehicles from only 2 countries, China and the UAE.

In the interest of intellectual honesty, here's the full defenceweb article, without the selective edits:

SAAF Gripens grounded

The South African Air Force’s (SAAF’s) Gripen fleet is temporarily grounded, with no aircraft serviceable, due to a lack of funding and maintenance and support contracts not being renewed in time, but it is likely that the Gripens will be flying again in the new year.

In a statement resulting from multiple media enquiries, the Department of Defence (DoD) said the South African National Defence Force’s (SANDF’s) Air Defence capability has been negatively impacted by protracted discussions relating to maintenance contracts.

“After a lengthy discussion between the South African Air Force (SAAF), through Armscor and Saab on the contract concerning the Gripen, proposals have been presented by both parties and are being reviewed to ensure that the matter is conclusively dealt with by the parties concerned. It is unfortunate that the discussions took longer than expected as a result, negatively impacting on the Air Defence capability,” stated Siphiwe Dlamini, DoD Head of Communication.

He added that, “the SAAF is confident that a solution will be found to resolve this matter. Due to the sensitivity around the discussion, the negotiations cannot be made public.”

Darren Olivier, Director at African Defence Review, notes that, “thanks to this delay, the SAAF’s Gripen fleet has been grounded for three months and probably won’t return to the air until late January at the earliest.”

He believes it’s a crisis caused primarily by severe budget cuts, “but seemingly compounded by a dysfunctional relationship between the SAAF and Armscor and poor contract management. This is a crisis that should never have been allowed to reach this point.”

At least as far back as August this year, negotiations regarding the placement of new support contracts for the Hawk and Gripen were still ongoing due to “high fixed costs”.

defenceWeb understands that maintenance and support contracts have not been renewed in time because of Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) requirements, Armscor implementing Preferential Procurement regulations incorrectly, and funding constraints.

It is believed that half the Gripen fleet of 26 aircraft has been cannibalised for spare parts, while air crew have lost currency due to a lack of flight hours. This is compounded by a lack of PC-7 Mk II trainers available.

The funding crisis affecting the SAAF, and the SANDF as a whole, has also seen the serviceability of other aircraft decline. For example, there are only around a dozen Oryx available out of a fleet of roughly 40. Over the last year only around a third of the Hawk fleet has been operational. Much of the eight-strong C-130BZ Hercules fleet is unserviceable, although two aircraft are airworthy and flying after a major service, and two more are undergoing scheduled maintenance.

The lack of funding also means there is little ammunition available for the SAAF’s combat aircraft.

As far back as 2016, experts were warning that budget cuts coupled with the Rand’s decreasing value could mean the Gripen or Hawk fleets would be permanently grounded (the poor Rand/dollar exchange rate has made it increasingly expensive to acquire spares from overseas). For nearly a decade, the SAAF has been unable to fund the airworthiness of the entire Hawk and Gripen fleets, and half the Gripen fleet has since been in ‘rotational storage’.

According to the 2021 DoD Annual Performance Plan, for 2021/22, a total of R5.969 billion is allocated to the Air Defence programme (essentially the SAAF in its entirety), against a requirement of R7.8 billion. “The shortfall of R1 840 622 000 will adversely impact on the preparation and provision of combat-ready air defence capabilities, maintenance backlog, maintenance of capabilities and aviation safety within the Programme.”

The SAAF’s Air Combat Capability (which includes Hawk and Gripen operations) has seen its allocation shrinking in most years. According to the Annual Performance Plan, the Air Combat Capability was allocated R783 million in 2017/18 but this dropped down to R519 million the next year, and increased to R649 million in 2019/20 and R866 million in 2020/21. However, for 2021/22 it declined to R343 million and is projected to reach just R302 million in 2022/23.

“In the light of the current DOD budget reductions, the Air Defence Programme will remain under pressure to provide the required air defence capabilities to execute its mandate. Despite the budget and capability challenges, the Air Defence Programme will continue with training to provide the required air defence capabilities to support humanitarian and disaster relief operations and secure the RSA airspace as and when required in accordance with the Joint Force Employment requirements,” the Annual Performance Plan stated.

The DoD in August told Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) that constrained funding was affecting the ability of the SAAF to provide enough serviceable aircraft, which is negatively affecting flying hours.

Helicopter systems have a critical spares shortage which is because of procurement processes with long lead times and a backlog of spares. Transport and combat systems have similar issues, the PCDMV heard.

During the first quarter of the 2021/22 financial year, the SA Air Force flew 3 560.8 hours, including 2 717 Force Preparation hours; 636.7 Force Employment hours; and 207.1 VVIP flying hours. It has a target of 17 100 hours for the year but only 15 000 hours in 2022/23 and 2023/24.

Lurker4Long:
In the interest of intellectual honesty, here's the full defenceweb article, without the selective edits:

SAAF Gripens grounded

The South African Air Force’s (SAAF’s) Gripen fleet is temporarily grounded, with no aircraft serviceable, due to a lack of funding and maintenance and support contracts not being renewed in time, but it is likely that the Gripens will be flying again in the new year.

In a statement resulting from multiple media enquiries, the Department of Defence (DoD) said the South African National Defence Force’s (SANDF’s) Air Defence capability has been negatively impacted by protracted discussions relating to maintenance contracts.

“After a lengthy discussion between the South African Air Force (SAAF), through Armscor and Saab on the contract concerning the Gripen, proposals have been presented by both parties and are being reviewed to ensure that the matter is conclusively dealt with by the parties concerned. It is unfortunate that the discussions took longer than expected as a result, negatively impacting on the Air Defence capability,” stated Siphiwe Dlamini, DoD Head of Communication.

He added that, “the SAAF is confident that a solution will be found to resolve this matter. Due to the sensitivity around the discussion, the negotiations cannot be made public.”

Darren Olivier, Director at African Defence Review, notes that, “thanks to this delay, the SAAF’s Gripen fleet has been grounded for three months and probably won’t return to the air until late January at the earliest.”

He believes it’s a crisis caused primarily by severe budget cuts, “but seemingly compounded by a dysfunctional relationship between the SAAF and Armscor and poor contract management. This is a crisis that should never have been allowed to reach this point.”

At least as far back as August this year, negotiations regarding the placement of new support contracts for the Hawk and Gripen were still ongoing due to “high fixed costs”.

defenceWeb understands that maintenance and support contracts have not been renewed in time because of Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) requirements, Armscor implementing Preferential Procurement regulations incorrectly, and funding constraints.

It is believed that half the Gripen fleet of 26 aircraft has been cannibalised for spare parts, while air crew have lost currency due to a lack of flight hours. This is compounded by a lack of PC-7 Mk II trainers available.

The funding crisis affecting the SAAF, and the SANDF as a whole, has also seen the serviceability of other aircraft decline. For example, there are only around a dozen Oryx available out of a fleet of roughly 40. Over the last year only around a third of the Hawk fleet has been operational. Much of the eight-strong C-130BZ Hercules fleet is unserviceable, although two aircraft are airworthy and flying after a major service, and two more are undergoing scheduled maintenance.

The lack of funding also means there is little ammunition available for the SAAF’s combat aircraft.

As far back as 2016, experts were warning that budget cuts coupled with the Rand’s decreasing value could mean the Gripen or Hawk fleets would be permanently grounded (the poor Rand/dollar exchange rate has made it increasingly expensive to acquire spares from overseas). For nearly a decade, the SAAF has been unable to fund the airworthiness of the entire Hawk and Gripen fleets, and half the Gripen fleet has since been in ‘rotational storage’.

According to the 2021 DoD Annual Performance Plan, for 2021/22, a total of R5.969 billion is allocated to the Air Defence programme (essentially the SAAF in its entirety), against a requirement of R7.8 billion. “The shortfall of R1 840 622 000 will adversely impact on the preparation and provision of combat-ready air defence capabilities, maintenance backlog, maintenance of capabilities and aviation safety within the Programme.”

The SAAF’s Air Combat Capability (which includes Hawk and Gripen operations) has seen its allocation shrinking in most years. According to the Annual Performance Plan, the Air Combat Capability was allocated R783 million in 2017/18 but this dropped down to R519 million the next year, and increased to R649 million in 2019/20 and R866 million in 2020/21. However, for 2021/22 it declined to R343 million and is projected to reach just R302 million in 2022/23.

“In the light of the current DOD budget reductions, the Air Defence Programme will remain under pressure to provide the required air defence capabilities to execute its mandate. Despite the budget and capability challenges, the Air Defence Programme will continue with training to provide the required air defence capabilities to support humanitarian and disaster relief operations and secure the RSA airspace as and when required in accordance with the Joint Force Employment requirements,” the Annual Performance Plan stated.

The DoD in August told Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) that constrained funding was affecting the ability of the SAAF to provide enough serviceable aircraft, which is negatively affecting flying hours.

Helicopter systems have a critical spares shortage which is because of procurement processes with long lead times and a backlog of spares. Transport and combat systems have similar issues, the PCDMV heard.

During the first quarter of the 2021/22 financial year, the SA Air Force flew 3 560.8 hours, including 2 717 Force Preparation hours; 636.7 Force Employment hours; and 207.1 VVIP flying hours. It has a target of 17 100 hours for the year but only 15 000 hours in 2022/23 and 2023/24.

covid lock downs have also had a severe impact on the availability of spares

kabe1:


This argument is also faulty.

The vehicles that were donated to Nigeria were not all in a good shape. See pictures attached. You cannot claim that NA should have stretched the life of the MRAPs extensively when the said MRAPs were not even in a good shape when they were donated to Nigeria.

Look at the tyres.

Weak argument here because of those MRAPs use commercial off-the-shelve spare parts.

As at 2018/19, there were plans in place to find suitable engines for about 600 AFVs in the Nigerian army Armoury most of which are no longer being produced by their original manufacturers.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-D0YZ00EHE

Between 13:57 and 15:10

SuperSixSeven:


Weak argument here because of those MRAPs use commercial off-the-shelve spare parts.

A military grade tyre with run-flat inserts is commercial off-the-shelve?

This is a ridiculous comment. It's important we make comments on things we know.

Lurker4Long:
In the interest of intellectual honesty, here's the full defenceweb article, without the selective edits:

SAAF Gripens grounded

The South African Air Force’s (SAAF’s) Gripen fleet is temporarily grounded, with no aircraft serviceable, 24.

This is a funny post.

Is the report in my post fabricated or did you dispute any of them?

Did I not post a link, cite a source where I got report?

Why are you such a cry baby? It's embarrassing.

jl115:
covid lock downs have also had a severe impact on the availability of spares

Whilst playing a role, I doubt the severity of the impact. How many years has the military been warning the government that starving the SANDF of funds, whilst heaping on more and more missions, will lead to things breaking down?

Lurker4Long:
In the interest of intellectual honesty, here's the full defenceweb article, without the selective edits:

SAAF Gripens grounded

The South African Air Force’s (SAAF’s) Gripen fleet is temporarily grounded, with no aircraft serviceable, due to a lack of funding and maintenance and support contracts not being renewed in time, but it is likely that the Gripens will be flying again in the new year.

In a statement resulting from multiple media enquiries, the Department of Defence (DoD) said the South African National Defence Force’s (SANDF’s) Air Defence capability has been negatively impacted by protracted discussions relating to maintenance contracts.

African government's south of the Sahara have a penchant to sleep during peace rather than prepping for war. Pathetic.
It happened to Nigeria to some degree as
well. I would rather cut recruitment to slash the wage bill and up procurement and training for a small nucleus of very professional fighting men and women during peace time than have a half baked military of many tens of thousands. That way you maintain discipline,capability and capacity during peace in preparation for war.
Funny thing is,democracy has always been the best friend of the Nigerian military procurement wise despite the historic poor relationship.

South Africa's case is a case of people who don't know how to bake cookies being given the entire cookie Jar�. Seriously,some people down there don't know how to run a government. It's not just the military suffering. Some people there think it's corruption,but corruption alone can't destroy such an economy that fast (28yrs). Sheer incompetence has a role to play. People are just being silent so as not to be called racists.

kabe1:


A military grade tyre with run-flat inserts is commercial off-the-shelve?

This is a ridiculous comment. It's important we make comments on things we know.

Are you serious here, Kabe1? (no, i dont think so) What are military grade tyres? Run flat tyres - how many do you need??

SuperSixSeven:


Are you serious here, Kabe1? (i dont think so) What are military grade tyres? Run flat tyres - how many do you need??

Please read carefully and point out to me where I said RUN FLAT TYRES?

kabe1:


Please read carefully and point out to me where I said RUN FLAT TYRES?

SuperSixSeven, I'm waiting for you.

Nigerian made bomb disposal robots.

Nigerian made UGV armed with an array of HMGs.

Also a vehicle that looks like it can be used for storming buildings.

kabe1:


SuperSixSeven, I'm waiting for you.

Understand this: There is nothing such as a military grade tyres.

Somehow I don't understand what you are trying to say. Even your village mechanic can fix a flat tyre. The condition of this particular vehicles can hardly be estimated from the pictures you have uploaded. A flat tyre is at least no indication that supports your claim.

I strongly believe that the NA should be able to maintain any MRAP with very few resources and off the shelf spare parts - if they just want to.

SuperSixSeven:


Understand this: There is nothing such as a military grade tyres.

Somehow I don't understand what you are trying to say. Even your village mechanic can fix a flat tyre. The condition of this particular vehicles can hardly be estimated from the pictures you have uploaded. A flat tyre is at least no indication that supports your claim.

I strongly believe that the NA should be able to maintain any MRAP with very few resources and off the shelf spare parts - if they just want to.

No offense, but this is a ridiculous comment.

Eurosatory 2018: MICHELIN presents its latest military tyres


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u732xuJHhtA