₦airaland Forum

Meanwhile, in Mozambique.

kabe1:
T-129 and AH-1Z are two excellent platforms.

Question is, why do we need these 2, when we could have bought 18 units of one?

Finally you're asking the right questions.
Personally, and this is no opinion on the aircraft, I'd opt for the T-129. Reason: every helicopter pilot I know says wheels give you more options than skids!

Odunayaw:
That's true!

BTW, have you seen this latest one, for your collection?
Available also as an ebook on Amazon, together with Johan's earlier one on his time in PMCs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nemesis4you, your guys say we have the craziest pilots! Our pilots say it's the least they can do seeing your guys have the best Officers Mess and hospitality.
Both say your Lilliputians going west means the bad guys will be found east!

Lubero, North Kivu, DRC - Alerted to the suspected presence of armed elements in the north-east of Mambassa and south-west of Kipese, in Lubero territory , MONUSCO's Indian peacekeepers launched a search and neutralization operation in the jungles adjacent to the localities of Itili, Useko, Lobango, Kavisiri and Kitsombiro. The aim was to prevent the armed groups from carrying out their operations, thereby protecting civilians. Photo MONUSCO/ Force

Have I mentioned I miss Henry's best photo thingy?

jl115:
how many helicopters can be carried in a single c130?

Nigerian helicopters can fly to their destinations in the AO.

jl115:
It's literally your LST but with the added advantage of having additional helicopters(transport and AH) to support landing troops.....not only will it benefit Nigeria in terms of conventional force projection but with peacekeeping operations as well(ECOMOG comes to mind) ...Lessons from our operation in CAR should come to mind wrt air support.

Looking at a map, I struggle to see where Nigeria would need an LHD to deploy air support. The whole Gulf of Guinea AO is a flight away.
The 2 LSTs make infinitely more sense.

Ethiopia-Tigray war – enemies and global negotiators gather in South Africa for peace talks

Ethiopia’s warring parties and African and international mediators have gathered in South Africa for peace talks scheduled to start on Tuesday to try to end the country’s bitter and bloody two-year civil war.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-10-24-ethiopia-tigray-war-enemies-gather-in-south-africa-for-peace-talks/

China threat in mind, [Indian] Army buys more M4 armoured vehicles with anti-tank missiles

Army is also looking at the possibility of increasing calibre of the 7.62 mm gun on board to a 20 mm one with an automatic turret.

Gandhinagar: Keeping in mind the ongoing tension with China in Eastern Ladakh, the Army has ordered more M4 armoured vehicles from Pune-based defence company Bharat Forge of the Kalyani Group, ThePrint has learnt.

Sources in the defence establishment said some of these vehicles are now being integrated with the Israeli Spike anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) since the Chinese have deployed heavy armour in the mountains.

They added that the Kalyani Group has already delivered about 60 of these vehicles to the Army, including a batch of 30 for the UN Peacekeeping Force.

Sources said while the initial order for these vehicles in February last year was for less than 30, additional orders were soon placed.

They didn’t divulge the exact numbers but said the orders were being completed in batches with modifications depending on how they were performing under the Northern Command.

Besides the ATGM, the Army is also looking at the possibility of increasing the calibre of the 7.62 mm gun on board to a 20 mm one with an automatic turret.

The Army is in need of wheeled armoured vehicles that can transport troops faster and are capable of operating in high-altitude regions.

The M4, a product of the South African defence major Paramount Group, is a multi-role platform designed to meet the requirements of the armed forces for quick mobility in rough terrain and in areas affected by mine and improvised explosive device (IED) threats.

It has ballistic and blast protection against TNT side blasts of up to 50 kg, IEDs and roadside bombs due to its design built on a flat-floor monocoque hull. With a thrust speed of 140 km per hour, the vehicle has a payload of 2.3 tonnes and an operating range of about 800 km, as reported earlier.

The automatic transmission-enabled vehicle can carry 10 soldiers including the driver and has a cooling and heating system, making it ideal for both deserts and high altitudes.

Sources in the Kalyani Group said Bharat Forge has been able to carry out indigenisation of nearly 95 percent of the vehicles, with only 5 per cent being imported from outside.

While its plant in Pune currently has the capacity to build 40 vehicles per year, the firm plans to ramp it up to 100 soon, added the sources.

https://theprint.in/defence/china-threat-in-mind-army-buys-more-m4-armoured-vehicles-with-anti-tank-missiles/1176158/

Ghana’s Homegrown Special Boat Squadron Signals New Era

The Ghana Special Boat Squadron (SBS) has graduated its first batch of operators who were 100% domestically trained.

The eight new graduates completed the rigorous six-month course and were the only ones out of a class of 25 to successfully finish and receive special forces badges. They trained at the Naval Training Command in Nutekpor which was opened two years earlier. They will now join the SBS, an elite special forces unit trained to counter piracy and trafficking and conduct opposed boarding of ships.

Building domestic training capability is a major part of the country’s SBS 5-year Development Plan, which was created in partnership with the U.S. and the Danish Special Warfare Group known as the Frogman Corps.

The units are particularly important as Ghana seeks to protect its offshore oil and gas installations and its fisheries sector.

Chief of Army Staff Maj. Gen. Thomas Oppong-Peprah praised the SBS as “quiet professionals” and said they are among the most flexible and useful instruments in the country’s national security toolbox, the Ghana Peace Journal reported.

“They operate deep at sea and in remote areas making difficult decisions every day in austere, uncertain, and unstructured environments,” Oppong-Peprah said at the graduation ceremony on September 15.

Created in 2016, the Ghana SBS typically works in tandem with traditional units from the Navy or Army. Lt. Cmdr. Seth Dzakpasu, commander of the SBS, said potential squadron members are volunteers from within the Ghana Navy who are screened and shortlisted to attempt the training. The Basic Operator Capability course is, he said, the most difficult course there is in the armed forces. It is both “grueling” and “academically daunting” preparing trainees to operate in desert, mountain, jungle, river or sea environments.

After that, there are follow-on intermediate and advanced courses throughout an operator’s career to sharpen skills.

“The SBS course is in phases,” he told ADF during the Naval Infantry Leadership Symposium held in Dakar, Senegal, in July. “It is designed to first condition you to work in small groups and move rapidly, then the other phases develop your mindset, the mindset to know the possibilities that a standard military unit might think is impossible.”

The SBS cultivates special forces skills such as speed, security, surprise and purpose, he said.

“These are the principles that enable a small entity to take on attacks which, traditionally, should have been conducted by a larger entity, sometimes three times the size, and achieve results,” he said.

Previous SBS graduates were trained with the help of Nigeria. A strong partnership has developed between the Ghana SBS and the Nigerian Special Boat Service, which has taken a lead role in some of Nigeria’s toughest counter-terror fights.

During a 2021 ceremony for the Nigerian Navy’s Basic Operating Capability course where 10 Nigerians and nine Ghanaians graduated, Nigerian Navy Rear Adm. Kamarudeen Lawal said the relationship between the two countries has solidified through training exchanges.

“Ghana and Nigeria are two countries that have been operating closely. We have had various exercises and trainings with Ghanaian officers. In most of our training institutions, we have Ghanaian officers teaching, and we also have Nigerians who are teaching in Ghana,” he said, according to the Nigerian newspaper This Day. “So, we have come a long way and I believe this is just a way to further strengthen our relationship.”

https://adf-magazine.com/2022/10/ghanas-homegrown-special-boat-squadron-signals-new-era/

Nemesis4you:
Kalyani paramount M4

@Lurker4Long

Thanks. I'm more interested in the electronics stuff, which is where SA companies are doing interesting business with Ind defence.
I know you won't comment, but I really think we should junk the BRICS nonsense and revert to strengthening IBSA, as Ind, Brazil and SA have no commonalities with the 2 autocracies. Just my 2 cents.

South Africa’s relations with US ‘not under duress’ over Ukraine, says American ambassador

The sharp differences between South Africa and the US over Russia’s war against Ukraine have not placed the Pretoria-Washington relationship “under duress”, says America’s new ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety II.

While the US has fully backed Ukraine and is giving it with billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to try to expel the Russian invaders, South Africa has been studiously maintaining a “non-aligned”, uncritical position, for example by abstaining from every one of the several United Nations General Assembly votes condemning Russia’s aggression and its recent annexation of parts of eastern Ukraine.

Yet, despite – or because of – those disagreements, President Joe Biden invited President Cyril Ramaphosa to a meeting in the White House last month, a rare honour. DM168 asked Brigety whether this invitation meant that relations between the two countries had not been badly affected by their differences over Ukraine? Or did it mean that Biden wanted an opportunity to try to persuade Ramaphosa to change his mind over Ukraine?

“I don’t think those are mutually exclusive,” Brigety said in an interview in Cape Town. “I think the United States and South Africa have a broad relationship covering a variety of matters in terms of bilateral engagement and also in terms of our ongoing consultations on a variety of global matters, which of course includes Ukraine in this instance.

“But the fact that we may disagree or may take different approaches on any particular issue, even an issue of great significance, doesn’t mean that the relationship is in any way under duress.

“In fact the more we are talking and engaging with each other, the better we’re able to understand each other and hopefully find areas of commonality.”

He noted that Ukraine had been discussed several times at the highest level, not only by Biden and Ramaphosa but also by their foreign ministers, Antony Blinken and Naledi Pandor.

“So, our countries remain in contact. I believe we are in agreement that the war needs to end immediately. The South Africans have stated that as well.”

Punishing African governments

In these talks, the US had also received “loudly and clearly” the South African government’s opposition to legislation before the US Congress that could punish African governments and companies for doing business with Russian companies and other entities.

DM168 had heard that Biden had assured Ramaphosa that he would veto the “Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Bill”, which has been adopted in the US House of Representatives but not the Senate.

More...https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-10-21-sa-us-relations-not-under-duress-over-ukraine-american-ambassador/

Nemesis4you:
After the patriot or whatever act

ThIs US act was mentioned

FCPA act- Paying bribes to foreign governments for contracts

I had a good 1 minute laugh

Forget contracts , they bribe to change entire government of a country

Recent example government across the border

Come now, we too were young and idealistic once!

Nemesis4you:
I post photos which r available in Google

M4 pics is there , but I didn't post
Anyways Kalyani chief was saying M4 is a hit

Am not there in expo

You have the photos ?

I've been too busy to go look for pics by the usual suspects. In any case, I'm disappointed by the lack of vision of Ind/SA defence companies. For various reasons, they just can't seem to get their shit together when it comes to collaboration. Apart from Kalyani and Paramount.

Hey Nemesis4you, we feel left out! We also have a decent presence at DEFEXPO!

Nemesis4you:
The irony huh ?
Pot calling cattle black

I can imagine the chagrin on the faces of the Americans who themselves did exactly the same to circumvent their own laws and 99% sure on advise of US law officials themselves

The guys that passed the cash directly on behalf of MTN?
An American firm of merce...PMCs hired by MTN for security. And also hired by ISAF!

Nemesis4you:
US is flexing it muscles on others or in this case taxing via it's rules which it conveniently ignores when it comes to self

During deployment in Afghanistan, elements of US agencies themselves were paying taliban indirectly (to circumvent direct complicity) and knowingly for safe passage of goods etc

patriot or whatever act feel asleep then I guess

US acts like the 'area boy' of the world bec it can afford to do so

And ironically US is fining others for supporting terrorists in Syria when US itself supports jihadi groups in Syria and now shamelessly stealing oil from Syria , and now will also keep that 788 million

Irony died a million deaths

addendum
I cant recollect for sure but I think few years back France imposed a big multi million dollar fine on a us company for internet / data security related issues , possibly it's a payback of sorts by Us

Our MTN was accused of the same thing in a US court: paying protection fees to the Taliban to leave cell towers unscathed in Afghanistan.
MTN got the case dismissed on 2 grounds:
1) as MTN does not operate in the US, the Court had no jurisdiction; and
2) even if the US had jurisdiction, MTN paid village tribal elders who had been recommended and vetted by NATO authorities. If they passed the money on to the Taliban (which they did), MTN did not know and had no way to know.

GreenandGold:
I can't believe I was today's old when I noticed this

Second SA Navy MMIPV ready for launch

Damen Shipyards Cape Town will soon launch the second multi-mission inshore patrol vessel (MMIPV) for the South African Navy (SAN), with handover next year following sea trials.

The launch date moved closer with a blessing ceremony held at Damen Shipyards Cape Town on 14 October, the company revealed.

During the event, the vessel was blessed and a bottle of champagne was broken over the bow as is the custom, and the South African flag was raised on the vessel.

After the ceremony, the second MMIPV will be launched into the water and then delivered to the SAN in 2023 after extensive acceptance trials. The third vessel will be delivered one year later in 2024. Armscor has indicated deliveries will be in April of both years.

Sefale Montsi, Director at DSCT said: “With this ceremony, this vessel will soon join her sister, SAS King Sekhukhune II in successfully sailing South African and international waters. The project continues to meet the client’s specifications, on time and within budget. Damen Shipyards Cape Town and our growing local supply chain stand ready to deliver more of these much-needed vessels to our navy.”

“We are pleased with the progress that has been made thus far”, said Armscor Group Executive Acquisition and Supply Chain Management, Meshak Teffo. “We are committed to providing the South African National Defence Force with state-of-the-art defence materiel they require to protect the sovereignty of the country. This MMIPV Project demonstrates our capability to deliver on complex acquisition solutions. We are looking forward to the delivery of this second Multi Mission Inshore Patrol Vessel next year.”

The first MMIPV (P1571), SAS King Sekhukhune I, was handed to the SA Navy on 18 May. The second vessel will be named SAS Adam Kok and the third SAS King Shaka. The first vessel took part in Exercise Ibsamar with India last week, sailing off the coast of Gqeberha (Port Elizabth). This was the vessel’s first exercise.

DSCT said the MMIPV project is playing an important role in creating skilled new jobs and acting as a catalyst for the development of regional supply chains. On its own, the MMIPV project is expected to generate more than one million man-hours of work during the construction of the three MMIPVs and will support more than 1 000 direct and indirect jobs. Beyond work on the vessel, DSCT benefits from the global reach of Damen Shipyards Group to secure new business for South African industry.

“This project has also allowed the yard to increase the impact of its transformation strategy and we have achieved a level 1 BEE rating. Our strategy to make transformation part of business as usual made it possible to over-deliver on Armscor’s requirements for engagement of local businesses and workforce, as well as vessel capabilities,” Montsi said.

https://www.defenceweb.co.za/featured/second-sa-navy-mmipv-ready-for-launch/

Ordinarily the bond market is safe and boring. Not the last few weeks; blood everywhere waiting for the Bank of England's announcement this afternoon.
Every politician should have someone whispering to them everyday: "It's the economy, stupid!"

Stargate254:
I'm gonna choose to believe that wind patterns changed last minute cause almost all paratroopers missed the landing at Uganda's Independence Celebration 3 days ago.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the Ugandan Military paratroopers as seen on Uganda’s independence celebrations on October 9, 2022.

Kenyans must be very afraid, because this is the army whose former commander, the President’s son, threatened to invade Nairobi!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/uHm0EeCIIf

— Hopewell Chin’ono (@daddyhope) October 11, 2022

Honduras, not Uganda.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1kV2Z1iysk

Odunayaw:
The shame of this would

Except this is Honduras, not Uganda
In the pic is Uganda.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1kV2Z1iysk