₦airaland Forum

South African Air Force squadron named Korean War 'hero' of the month

The veterans ministry has chosen a South African Air Force (SAAF) unit as next month's Korean War hero for its extensive operations in support of the South during the 1950-53 conflict, officials said Thursday.

The 2 Squadron SAAF, nicknamed "Flying Cheetahs," conducted a total of 12,067 sorties in key air operations at frontline battle zones from the southeastern port city of Busan to Pyongyang during the first major armed conflict of the Cold War.

Led by Lt. Col. Servaas Theron, the squadron cut off enemies' logistics lines and offered close air support for ground troops with 16 F-51 Mustang fighters acquired from the United States, according to the ministry.

It successfully destroyed key enemy assets, including 40 tanks, 220 field artillery guns, 147 anti-aircraft guns and about 500 supply depots.

During the war, South Africa sent a total of 826 troops. Of them, 36 were killed, and eight were taken prisoner.

"Despite the absence of diplomatic ties between South Africa and Korea at the time and the geographical location of the country in the southernmost part of Africa, it sent troops to defend the Republic of Korea," the ministry said in a press release.

The two countries forged official diplomatic ties in 1992. (Yonhap)

https://m.koreatimes.co/pages/article.asp?newsIdx=331915

kikuyu1, jl115, greenandgold and that closet rugby lover Odunayaw

This weekend's clean sweep by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa affirms yet again, the primacy of southern hemisphere rugger!
And yet the northern hemisphere persist with the fiction that next year's World Cup is theirs for the taking!

jl115:
SADC did not exist in 80s my bru

Ah, it did, but your point about Zim remains.

I always find it funny when outsiders want to tell me how processes in my own country work!

Chinese frigates give jitters to Pakistani Navy

At least four Chinese frigates, F-22P commissioned in July 2009, are giving nightmares to Pakistani Navy officers and men tasked to keep them afloat in the turbulent waters of Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. Three of these frigates were bought from the China Shipbuilding Trading Company, while one was built at the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works on the basis of a technology transfer from the Chinese company.

After the commissioning of the frigates, the Pakistani Navy found out that the on-board imaging device of the FM90 (N) missile-system was defective because of a faulty indication on display. The system was unable to lock on to the target which, in a way, made the missiles ineffective, thereby defeating one of the critical mission objectives. As it turned out, these ships were found to be equipped with a defective infra-red sensor (IR17) system and SR 60 radars, two of the most important sensors on board, which are used for air and surface search. These search and track radars were found to exhibit faults during high-power transmissions, substantially degrading its operational utility. The IR 17 sensors on all the ships were found to be defective and had to be discarded, with the replacement yet to be fitted.

Another set of common faults in the Chinese-built frigates were found in its main engines. These frigates are powered by four diesel engines. A critical engine defect has been low engine speed caused by high turbocharger exhaust temperatures, especially in engines 3 and 4, on all the frigates. High degree of degradation was noticed in the engine crankcase and liner which undermined the coolant chemistry in the ships. Lube oil degradation and deterioration of vibration isolators were some other faults in the engines.

There were other specific deficiencies in different ships. PNS Aslat, for instance, exhibited poor radar performance. The ASO-94 Sonar system on Aslat was erratic in its performance and on inspection it was found it was caused by faulty computing units. Likewise, Aslat’s SR-47 BG Search Radar was below par in performance and repairs were carried out with cannibalised parts from other F22P ships. The ASO-94 Sonar on board PNS Zulfiqar was reportedly picking up false contacts, caused by high noise levels radiated by the ship. The frigate developed a serious snag during an operational deployment in the Gulf of Aden. The port rubber blade of the frigate was dislodged causing it to be grounded for a period of time. The Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Pakistan Navy, expressed great concern over the issue to the head of the shipping company and asked to be compensated for the loss of operational time.

An equally serious deficiency noticed in PNS Zulfiqar, the first Chinese frigate to be commissioned, was the NG 16 single barrel 76mm gun mounted on it. The gun, equipped to engage other ships and aircraft and defend against anti-ship missiles, developed numerous faults in the mechanical and electrical parts, severely limiting its utility. PNS Saif has been running with a problematic HP5 stabiliser gyro since its commissioning. A gyroscopic fin stabilizer, found on both sides of a ship’s hull, prevents excess rolling of a ship, in either direction. The Chinese firm admitted that the fault was caused by defective Gimball Assembly motors, These motors were yet to be repaired or replaced, endangering the ship’s berthing operations.

Defective critical components and poor service from Chinese manufacturers have forced the Pakistani Navy to operate these four frigates with degraded operational capabilities, compromising some of the key mission objectives with which these ships were bought at a high price.

https://www.geopolitica.info/chinese-frigates-give-jitters-pakistani-navy/

Faithful007:
I'm referring to the G4 agreements earlier this year formed in response to escalating threats by Egypt and Sudan due to the dam construction in Ethiopia.

All four countries have the same policy concerning that and interestingly, Algeria is the only country in North Africa which strongly opposes Egypt on the dam issue as well as having similar stand with sub-saharan Africa on other key issues. It is not a mutual defense treaty. The agreement is ambiguous for obvious reasons. Deterrence.

The G4 agreement focused exclusively on the dam issues, and not the then frozen territorial issues Ethiopia has with Sudan, Somalia and to a lesser extent Eritrea.
It essentially told non-African actors to butt out of the issue.

Faithful007:
Sometimes I wonder how Ethiopia with her political instability manages to keep her national carrier afloat and profitable while carriers like SAA has escalated her debt stockpiling. Paradoxical.

I see jl115 has provided the simple answer.

Bloodofthelambo:
seems you've stockpiled new 'WordPONS' for another round of vawulence.
The last part of you post was unnecessary sire.(such comparisons finger some persons emotions here)



But... Any country that sees a national carrier as a thing of pride, will definitely fail in the Business side of owning one.

No vawulence necessary. This is a legitimate point of enquiry, unlike the non-factual, de-contextualised peacocking that normally derails the thread.

Faithful007:
Is he aware that Ethiopia has security agreements with Nigeria, Algeria and South Africa or does he want to figure out the details of the agreement himself?

Maybe he don't understand that deterrence is not cowardice.

Even Egypt will think twice before invading Ethiopia. If this lingers beyond border conflicts then her partners might need to show some level of support. Otherwise, Egypt ticks off another obstacle.

With the exception of the SADC Mutual Defence Treaty, South Africa has no such security agreement with any country that says we'll come to your aid if attacked.
Unless you're referring to the usual security co-operation agreement, which we've signed with almost everybody with whom we have diplomatic relations.

South Africa’s agriculture exports up modestly in the first quarter of 2022

The primary external event in the first quarter was the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which disrupted trade with the Black Sea region. For South Africa, this is important, especially for the horticulture subsector. Russia accounts, on average, for 7% of South Africa’s citrus exports in value terms. And it accounts for 12% of South Africa’s apples and pears exports. Hence, we feared that the impact of the war would instantly show in the trade figures.

We now have the trade data for the first quarter of 2022, and positively, exports are up, modestly, by 1% y/y to US$2,96 billion. This is also up by 6% quarter-on-quarter. The top exportable products were grapes, maize, wine, apples and pears, peaches, cherries and apricots, wool, and fruit juices, amongst other products.

From a destination point of view, the African continent remained the largest market for South Africa’s agricultural exports in the first quarter of this year, accounting for 41% in value terms. The European Union and Asia each accounted for a 24% share of total exports in value terms, respectively. The United Kingdom is one of the most important agricultural markets for South Africa and accounted for 9% of overall exports in the first quarter. The balance of 2% value constitutes the Americas and other regions of the world.

Russia was still a notable export market in the first quarter, accounting for 1% of South Africa’s total agriculture, food and beverages exports and the 21st largest export market. I expect this volume to decline notably in the second quarter data.

In sum, South Africa recorded an agricultural trade surplus of US$1,10 billion in the first quarter of 2022, down by 18% from the corresponding period last year. The narrowing of the trade surplus is not only caused by modest exports, as we noted above, but rather the increase in imports value and the higher commodity prices.

South Africa is an export-oriented sector, where roughly half of the produce, in value terms, is exported. Therefore, an industry and government approach to promoting South African products in export markets is key. The agriculture and agribusiness role players have already identified the countries the government should prioritise for this sector’s export expansion. These are China, Japan, India, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh.

https://wandilesihlobo.com/2022/06/12/south-africas-agriculture-exports-up-modestly-in-the-first-quarter-of-2022/

Nemesis4you:
@Lurker4Long

Was it coincidental u mentioned SA coal & war and this happened

Iron age geniuses outsmarted by stone age geniuses

Excellent excuse for u guys to double the prices for the iron age geniuses

And there are people who take the iron age geniuses seriously!

Nemesis4you:
Don't know why but al Jazeera aka al Qaeda was specifically miffed over it

Indian 'Military Base' In Agalega: New Satellite Imagery Shows Hangars Large Enough To House Navy's Submarine Hunting P-8I Aircraft

India is building military infrastructure on Mauritius' Agalega Island to increase its presence in the western Indian Ocean.

Over the last few years, a 10,000-foot runway and a jetty have been constructed on the island, which is located over 1,100 kilometre north of the main island of Mauritius.

Satellite imagery dated 20 April 2022 shows hangars large enough to house the Indian Navy's P-8I submarine-hunting aircraft are under construction next to the newly-built runway.

https://swarajyamag.com/defence/indian-military-base-in-agalega-new-satellite-imagery-shows-hangars-large-enough-to-house-navys-submarine-hunting-p-8i-aircraft

jl115:
I remember playing Rohan Jansen Van Rensburg(see pic) in a provincial trail game when I was 18.... I played prop(supposed to be the biggest oak on the field)...... Back then I was 6,2 95kg...Ruan playing center was 6,1 110kg......

Seen the sizes of rugby schoolboys nowadays? I was at the Indoor Rock Climbing place in Observatory and several teams (playing some tournament at Bishops) came in. Bloody hell!

Anyway, whilst rugby might approximate combat for some of us, I fear we've derailed the thread long enough for others.

GreenandGold:
I think you should join SkyscraperCity, it's the right place for such.... Also, it's a healthier forum than this place

https://www.skyscrapercity.com/forums/africa.372/

I'd never get any work done. A lot of clients' projects around the continent get posted there and I just browse.

I'm just mildly fascinated by the geopolitical implications for various African economies of a conflict in Europe between 2 shithole countries.

South Africa is becoming Europe’s alternative to Russian coal
Starting in mid-August, European Union countries will stop importing coal from Russia, which means they’ll have to find alternative suppliers. Already, South Africa is one such supplier, and the world’s fifth largest exporter of coal.

Between January and May of this year, roughly 40% more tons of coal have been exported to Europe from South Africa’s Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) than were exported in all of 2021, according to Reuters. Recipient countries include Spain, Poland, and Germany, which did not import any South African coal last year, as well as France, which increased its imports sevenfold year-over-year.

So far this year, about 15% of all coal exports from Richard’s Bay Coal Terminal went to the European Union (EU), compared to 4% for the whole of 2021.
The industry employs about 200,000 people.

https://qz.com/africa/2178106/south-africa-is-becoming-europes-alternative-to-russian-coal/

kikuyu1:
At first I was shocked competing HSs are poaching each others players but after a rethink I'm not!


https://www.sarugbymag.co.za/dark-side-of-schools-rugby-rears-its-head-again/

Which is why I hope your schoolboys massive size is natural but......


https://rugbyonslaught.com/massive-68-teenager-is-going-viral-with-his-destructive-highlight-reel/

https://youtu.be/x67B5HsmH-U

Also NOWHERE else in the world, NOWHERE has this quality of schoolboy rugby.

With the advent of televised school rugby, a lot of issues have arisen. Sponsorships, advertising have seen a massive injection of money. Steroid use is on the rise, poaching of players and creative ways to pass on the largesse to schoolboys and coaches. And of course, the poorer schools are left sucking on the hind tit as they lose their best players.

BTW, what do you think of the idea floating around to have Kenya, Namibia, Zimbabwe and possibly Uganda joining the Currie Cup and other domestic competitions?
We're already seeing talented boys from all those countries playing for various SA schools!

Kenya has uncovered their first schoolboy prodigy – Jeff Mutuku. Jeff began playing rugby in 2012 at 12 years old when he attended Kingswood College in South Africa. His development in the South African school system led to selections in the Kenyan u19 and u20 representative sides.

Jeff shows some great line running and natural speed in the video, which we are sure will have the Kenyan Sevens team’s attention.

MAN1960:
So you guys have finally destroyed this trend to the extent of bringing sports related discussion here

Nothing stops you from posting military photos and videos, you know.

Omofaye99:
Rugby for me is not interesting like football.

Always with the vawulence!
Everyone knows real men play rugby!

POSTSCRIPT: Those without a sense of humour, no need to respond; move right along!

GreenOris:
This is one sport i try to understand but couldn't, is fun to watch grown men outrunning and tackling each other though.

Ah Rugby! A game of hooligans played by gentlemen!

Faithful007:
As for G7 do you mean Russia lobbying SA? Because Russia was removed from G7 in 2014.

I thought what I said was very clear:

Then off to the G7 in Germany tomorrow, where I'm sure he and India's PM Modi will again be lobbied on their 2 countries' neutrality on Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

Lurker4Long:
They were not operational when he wrote those articles.
Bear in mind that 2 of our usual naval exercises- IBSAMAR with India and Brazil, OXIDE with France - will be held this year and participating assets are being readied.

Exercise IBSAMAR Main Planning Conference in Gqeberha.

Signal Unit Eastern Cape hosted the Exercise IBSAMAR Main Planning Conference from 6 to 10 June in Gqeberha. The Conference brought together representatives from Brazil and India as well as planners from all services and divisions to make the exercise a success.

Exercise IBSAMAR is a multinational naval exercise between the South African Navy, Brazilian Navy and Indian Navy. The exercise is planned to take place in the Algoa Bay area from 10 to 23 October 2022.

Article by Warrant Officer 2 B. Lombard and Photographs by Able Seaman N. Tams || SA Navy.

jl115, further to this:

Planning on track for Exercise Oxide 2022
SA Navy (SAN) fleet headquarters in Simon’s Town next week welcomes a three officer French Armed Forces delegation for an Exercise Oxide mid-term planning session.

This year’s exercise is set for November after cancellations brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions.

That there would be a joint Franco/South African naval exercise this year was made known last month (April) when the French task force Jeanne d’Arc 2022 ported in Cape Town during a five-month deployment focussed on training cadets from the French Naval College (École Navale).

Preferring to leave the nuts and bolts of the exercise as regards serials to the host country’s national defence force, De Lapeyriere said the intention is to “dedicate” air and naval assets to Oxide 2022.

“South Africa and France, as Indian Ocean nations, share common interests including maritime security to a wide extent in their respective EEZs (exclusive economic zones and illegal trafficking.

“This exercise is important to France and an opportunity to improve our ability to operate bilaterally on operations such as intervention, surveillance, disaster relief, anti-pollution and search and rescue (SAR) where military units are required,” he said.

https://www.defenceweb.co.za/featured/planning-on-track-for-exercise-oxide-2022/

Flanker:
The original yahbon United 40 MALE according to sources can carry a payload of 1,000kg . With 10 hard points . 100 kg max charge for each one . But they say in sources that the 1,000kg payload includes two gyro-stabilised gimballed camera platforms and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). A sonar system .

And the algerian modified version al djazair 54 , 55 have better optronics and radar communications systems .

But even with 480 kg , it can take 10 AR1 missiles on its 10 hard points , 45 kg per missile .



Pics : the difference between original yahbon 40 and the algerian version aldjazair 54, 55

Ah, that's where I got the payload weight.
Is it my eyes or have you guys also changed the engine?

Interesting times: Pres Ramaphosa skipped the Commonwealth Summit as he's attending the virtual BRICS Summit. Then off to the G7 in Germany tomorrow, where I'm sure he and India's PM Modi will again be lobbied on their 2 countries' neutrality on Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

Nemesis4you:
I don't think u managed to see the pic

Randoms

Nemesis4you:
X

Hiya Nemesis4you!

GreenandGold:
Nice view, is that Signal Hill?

Sorry, just saw this now. It's Lion's Head.
And taken on this beautiful Saturday morning.

Flanker:
El-Djazaïr54 and El-Djazaïr 55 MALE (UAV) , specifications

a Yabhon United 40 license manufactured locally in algeria

For some reason, I thought the 54 had more payload weight than the 480kg quoted?

Flanker:
Pic 3 : a trick that some poeple must learn to use instead of feeding trolls and kids on the thread

Yep. And it works beautifully, as we've just seen.

Nemesis4you: