₦airaland Forum

THE PROFESSIONAL NIGERIAN FORCE:

Nigerian soldiers serving in the United Nations African Union Hybrid Missions in Dafur, Sudan have threatened to go on rampage if they are not paid their allowances and airlifted back to Nigeria on or before July 3, 2012.

Radio France International Hausa Service report monitored last night in Abuja said the soldiers handed the Federal Government an eight-day ultimatum to meet their demands or they “create a scenario in Sudan which will deter the ongoing peace process in Darfur.” The soldiers, whose duty tour expired on May 26 after the mandatory six months, are from battalions NIBATTS 30, 31, 32 and 33 deployed in November 26, 2011 and January 12, 2012.

Director Army Public Relations Brig. Gen. Mobolaji Koleoso who spoke to Radio France on the matter yesterday,however, said he did not believe that any soldier in his right senses would contemplate such action. “I do not believe that any of my soldiers in his right senses will say that he will disrupt the peace in Darfur. If they are not airlifted, they know why, and if their airlifting is delayed, they know why, but airlifting operations will resume soon. I know they will soon be returned home,” he said.

A senior officer at the army headquarters who would not want to be named told Daily Trust reporter last night that the airlifting of the soldiers were affected by the recent Dana plane crash. “The troop’s transportation exercise begun three weeks ago through special arrangement but it was stalled by the recent Dana plane crash. The airlift exercise is continuous and the military authorities are making arrangement to see that all the soldiers in Darfur are transported back home and others replace them,” he said. He doubted reports indicating that the soldiers will mutiny pointing out that “they know the implication of such action.” “They can be court martialed just like what happened to some soldiers in Akure few years ago, when they return to Nigeria. That action is illegal.”

Our reporter sighted a UN plane, a McDonnell aircraft, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on Saturday, 23rd June, and on inquiry, a source at the airport said it made a technical landing to refuel. The source, however, said the UN plane with capacity to carry 143 people had landed in Abuja on Friday, 22nd June, with troops and also took some to Sudan.

A petition posted sent to Pointblanknews.com by ‘Concerned Soldiers in Darfur’, accessed by Daily Trust yesterday accused military hierarchy of corruption and negligence. They noted with anger that after the completion of the stipulated six months duty tour, the military hierarchy extended their duty tour with no explanation and provision for their families back home.

The petition reads in part: “Nigeria which was an active participant in the UN peace keeping operations, widely commended for our previous performance of restoring peace in Sierra Leone and Liberia, but presently we lost our respect especially in United Nations African Union Hybrid Missions in Darfur due to ill-equipment and corruption existing among top Nigerian who is who in peace support operation. “The situation of our peacekeepers is pitiable as if we don’t belong to any country. Nobody seems to listen to us or the plight of our family back home. Even though it is against the ethics of military to go to press, we are pushed to the wall, because nobody to listens our cry apart from the media.

“As am writing now Nigerian troops are stranded in Nyala, sector south headquarters of the mission in Darfur, Sudan, after the expiration of their 6 months Tour of Duty – we have four Nigerian Battalions (NIBATTS 30, 31, 32 and 33) on duty in Darfur, Sudan, deployed from 26 November, 2011 – 2 January, 2012.

“After successful completion of their mission, they are now stranded with no specific date for rotation. Our expected period of rotation to Nigeria is 26 May – 3 July, 2012 for the four battalions; up till the time of this report, we have not been rotated. This situation is very depressing and is dangerously affecting us and our loved ones back home. “NIBATT 31 was supposed to be rotated back to Nigeria between 31 May – 7 June, 2012. Out of the 800 troops that made up the battalion, only 115 were airlifted to Nigeria on 31 May; the remaining troops are still stranded in Sudan. They have added extra weeks to their official date of departure as well as NIBATT 30 which was supposed to be rotated back home on 26 May.

“This situation is due to either negligence on the part of the Nigerian government or the Army in taking up their responsibilities abroad with respect to their men and women on tour of duty. And the worse nobody explain to us what is happening as if we are not humans, as if we dont have anyone that cares for us, as if we dont have the right to know what affects us. Our family
are left helpless because we gave them only six months cheques, now we are more than six months here, our houses are crying for money to buy food, fuel generators, pay our children school fees. Last month,two soldiers fainted and gave up the ghost due to negligence, depression and uncertainty about our condition.

Is our country that poor that it cannot charter a commercial flight to bring us back home or are we not needed back home? “As I write, Nigerian Army Peace Keeping Center (NAPKC) in Jaji is full of troops of the four Battalions that underwent training to rotate the stranded 4 Battalions here in Sudan.Also the FOB in Abuja where troops normally spend the night before they are airlifted to Sudan is filled up with troops awaiting airlift to Sudan.

Sudan as we all know is a very hostile and a desert country with hash weather that makes living very unbearable. It is unwise for Nigeria to leave us to stay extra days, weeks or months in Sudan after the expiration of our tour of duty.

“Other contingents like Thailand, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, Nepal, Egypt and South Africa have all rotated their troops with chartered planes with passenger seats of about 220. Nigerian Army is waiting for United Nations to organize their rotation for them with a plane carrying only 115 passengers, making us to rotate a battalion seven (7) times x 4.

“I appeal to Nigerians to use their good offices in telling Mr. President, Senate President, Minister of Defence, Chief of Defence Staff and Chief of Army Staff as a matter of urgency to bring planes (bigger ones) to rotate the four Battalions in Sudan not later than 3 July or else we will create a scenario in Sudan which will deter the ongoing peace process in Darfur.”

Another article from Nigeria

Up to 60 heavily armed men ambushed a patrol of U.N./African Union peacekeepers in Darfur, in a new attack on international forces in Sudan's strife-torn west, the U.N. said on Friday.

The raiders, wearing uniforms and armed with AK-47 rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, managed to take weapons from the Nigerian troops from the joint U.N./African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), an official added.

It was at least the fifth serious confrontation between armed groups and UNAMID troops since they took over from a beleaguered African Union force at the beginning of the year.

The attack happened close to the capital of West Darfur El Geneina on Wednesday -- the same day another 45 Nigerian peacekeepers were killed in a road accident in northern Nigeria, after returning from a tour of duty in Darfur.

UNAMID spokesman Noureddine Mezni said the force had decided not to release details immediately after the assault as they were still trying to identify the attackers.

"We have bandits and we have armed groups and we have the (rebel) factions. With our very limited number of troops, it is not an easy job," Mezni told Reuters.

"We are a peacekeeping organisation but there is no peace on the ground to keep. We are appealing for the cooperation of all sides in this conflict. We are here to help."

Mezni said it was unclear how the attackers had taken the UNAMID light weapons. "But the peacekeepers were outnumbered ... No shots were fired and no one was injured."

The U.N. has warned the peacekeeping force remains seriously undermanned -- with only 9,000 out of a promised 26,000-strong force on the ground -- and poorly equipped. The force was sent to keep the peace in a remote region about the size of France.

Law and order has collapsed in Darfur where international experts say five years of conflict has killed 200,000 and driven 2.5 million from their homes. Khartoum puts the death count at 10,000 and accuses the western media of exaggerating the conflict.

Nigeria, the country that has contributed the most soldiers to the current force, has borne the brunt of some of the worst violence against peacekeepers in the region.

At least 12 soldiers were killed after armed raiders, thought to belong to a splinter rebel faction, attacked a Nigerian-manned base in the eastern Darfur town of Haskanita in September.

UNAMID is in the process of erecting a memorial stone to around 60 international peacekeepers killed since they first arrived in Darfur on 2004. UNAMID troops held a minute's silence this week in memory of the 45 Nigerians killed in the road crash.

Aid workers running the world's largest humanitarian operation in Darfur have warned that deteriorating security is having a serious impact on their work.

The U.N.'s World Food Programme said it was cutting humanitarian deliveries by half and forced a sharp cut in rations for aid-dependent Darfuris from May after a surge of bandit attacks on its convoys.

This article was written by a Nigerian Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai

In February 2010, a Nigerian military patrol of a company strength was intercepted by a rebel group and disarmed completely with their Armour Personnel Carriers (APCs) seized without any resistance. In January 2012, another Nigerian patrol was waylaid by a small rebel group and disarmed. Apart from taking their weapons, the commander was killed. From these failures, the humanitarian community in Darfur and International NGOs prefer being by other national troops; the Sierra Leonean forces that were trained in 1990s by the Nigerian Army are now more valued than our troops!

The February 2012 visit of the American Envoy to Sudan, Ambassador Smith to our Minister of Defence was principally to do with the poor performance of Nigerian troops in Darfur. What are the reasons for the decay of our peacekeeping capacity? Poor equipment, corruption, poor personnel selection and training, inadequate feeding and welfare of officers and men seem to be the reasons - symptomatic of the general malaise in governance in Nigeria under Jonathan.

Our equipment holdings are disgraceful and totally unacceptable; every country earns money from its Contingent Own Equipment (COE) - from uniforms, boots, face masks, compass, rifle, mortar, RPGs, APCs, power generating sets, kitchen equipment and even furniture. They are inspected every month and payments made, but our military and police contingents cannot meet up to 20 per cent of the COE required by the UN. Out of over 45 APCs for four battalions of 800 troops, less than seven are serviceable.

Some of the problems of the APCs are as basic as batteries and tires. The equipment available to our troops is enough to demoralise them when compared to other countries. The Nigerian government is supposed to earn $6,000 monthly for each APC. By contrast, each Rwandese battalion can boast of over 50 vehicles. Rocket Propel Grenades (RPGs) is today the weapon of deterrence to wade off ambushes, but it is rare to find any with Nigerian troops.

The process of selecting troops to peace missions is also flawed. Some battalions are loaded with clerks, cooks, batmen and orderlies who can barely handle a weapon, but are well-connected! It is not unusual for legislators, retired military officers and traditional rulers to influence the selection process, so competence and capacity get compromised. Some of these ill trained soldiers simple take to their heels when under attack. The end result is the high casualty rates of our officers and men. Similarly, poor feeding also affects the performance of our troops.

The UN pays for the feeding of the troops but in our case, the money is provided to the home government to ensure the inclusion of local content. What is ultimately provided by the MOD/Presidency contractors never meets the expected international standards. The Rwandese government allows the UN to directly feed their troops and so four Rwandese soldiers share one whole chicken during a meal. A Nigerian soldier is not likely to see a piece of chicken throughout his or her six months tour of duty in Darfur.

How is the money paid upfront by the UN for our participation in peacekeeping spent? Other countries use the funds to sustain their military and add value to their national economies; in Nigeria, such funds and even the income tax deductions from the earnings of military officers are not remitted to the treasury but supposedly re-channelled into the armed forces - with no accountability! The monies earned from peacekeeping are not recognised as revenues, the procurements not subject to rigorous 'due process' scrutiny on spurious security grounds and therefore often looted by the Ministry of Defence and the Presidency.

Many observers opined that the policy changes introduced by two former Chiefs of Staff, Agwai and Azazi to transform the army into an American-type institution destroyed the British military tradition of valour, honour and integrity. These two army chiefs between 2003-2006 introduced the policy of achieving C+ at the staff college as the main criterion to earn promotion and command appointments. This was abused and mediocre officers were able to buy their way and move up to command positions.

The poor performance of our troops today is a direct consequence of deficits in command capability. Currently, over 90 per cent of those who placed Nigeria on the world map with their extraordinary feats in Liberia and Sierra Leone are out of service due mainly to the C+ policy. It is time to correct these errors, equip our armed forces better and restore our nation's reputation in international peacekeeping. It is not too much to ask of a real commander-in-chief.

The good news is that our boys held on inspite of being outgunned in numbers and weaponry and they came out best....13 SANDF Killed and 27 injured while the enemy lost vary between 450 and 500 rebels killed. Consider that the rebels were about 3000 and our forces were around 250. SANDF fought for nearly 13 hours if you take the number of truce in between.

The high tempo, high battle lasted for 9 hours uninterrupted. READ this tale of one of the special forces operative narrating the entire battle scenario

A source in the hospital related the story of one of the wounded men - a military veteran with more than 30 years of experience - who was wounded in the leg during the battle.

"He said he alone took out more than 30 rebels," said the source.

"He killed about 25, and then he was wounded. He kept on fighting, killing about six more before his ammunition ran out."

IF THIS IS NOT A POINT OF DISCIPLINE AND BRAVERY THEN I DONT KNOW.

REBELS WERE BEATEN THOUROUGHLY READ THE BELOW STATEMENT: Rebels in the Central African Republic (CAR) regretted the action that led to the deaths of 13 SA National Defence Force soldiers, the SANDF said on Tuesday.

A very short summary of the South African Border War.

As Chester Crocker later wrote:
"In early October the Soviet-Fapla offensive was smashed at the Lomba River near Mavinga. It turned into a headlong retreat over the 120 miles back to the primary launching point at Cuito Cuanavale. In some of the bloodiest battles of the entire civil war, a combined force of some 8,000 Unita fighters and 4,000 SADF troops destroyed one Fapla brigade and mauled several others out of a total Fapla force of some 18,000 engaged in the three-pronged offensive. Estimates of Fapla losses ranged upward of 4,000 killed and wounded. This offensive had been a Soviet conception from start to finish. Senior Soviet officers played a central role in its execution. Over a thousand Soviet advisers were assigned to Angola in 1987 to help with Moscow's largest logistical effort to date in Angola: roughly $1.5 billion in military hardware was delivered that year. Huge quantities of Soviet equipment were destroyed or fell into Unita and SADF hands when Fapla broke into a disorganized retreat... The 1987 military campaign represented a stunning humiliation for the Soviet Union, its arms and its strategy. It would take Fapla a year, or maybe two, to recover and regroup. Moreover the Angolan military disaster threatened to go from bad to worse. As of mid-November, the Unita/SADF force had destroyed the Cuito Cuanavale airfield and pinned down thousands of Fapla's best remaining units clinging onto the town's defensive perimeters." (2)

The results of the campaign up to April 1988 were 4,785 killed on the Cuban/Faplan side, with 94 tanks and hundreds of combat vehicles destroyed, against 31 South Africans killed in action, 3 tanks destroyed (SADF tanks entered the war after the Lomba River campaign) and 11 SADF armoured cars and troop carriers lost. A total of 9 Migs were destroyed and only 1 SAAF Mirage shot down.

After 13 years in Angola the Cubans had still not achieved their aim of destroying Unita and marching into Namibia as "liberators". They had badly underestimated the South Africans and discovered to their cost that they were facing highly-trained, battle-hardened troops. If they had taken the trouble to examine South Africa's military history, they might perhaps have paused for thought at the fact that the forefathers of these troops, the Boers, had held the full might of the British Empire at bay during the Boer War, when 450,000 British troops took three years to subdue a force of little more than 20,000 Boers.

SADF Troops Killed - 31 ( Thirty One )
Cuban/Fapla Killed - 4785 ( Four Thousand seven hundrerd and eighty five)

The statement was recently made in the media that the then South African Defence Force lost the battle of Cuito Cuanavale. Well,lets just look at the maths and the FACTS shall we and then you all can comment on the statement made.

In December of 1987 the South African government responded to the FAPLA/Cuban offensive by launching a series of military operations in conjunction with UNITA forces, beginning with Operation Modular. The campaign succeeded in driving FAPLA/Cuban forces back to Cuito Cuanavale. The MPLA, fearing defeat, requested more help from Cuba. Fidel Castro responded by sending - in what was called "Maniobra XXXI Aniversario de las FAR" - hundreds of tanks, artillery, AA guns, airplanes and almost 50,000 men to the MPLA's rescue. Since Cuba lacked the capacity to carry out this massive logistical effort on its own, the USSR pitched in with ships and transport. The first Cuban reinforcements arrived in Cuito Cuanavale on December 5.

FAPLA retreat
South African and UNITA forces, having gained the upper-hand with Operation Modular, then launched Operation Hooper, mauling FAPLA/Cuban forces as they withdrew back to Cuito Cuanavale. The operation spanned from January to February of 1988. The South African advance was halted 22 km east of Cuito Cuanavale at the Tumpo river (15.18° S 18.957° E) by FAPLA forces, who set up positions fortified by thick minefields. Though stalled, the South Africans managed to inflict further heavy casualties on FAPLA forces and to secure the tactically important Chambinga Heights. The Cuban/pro-MPLA accounts assert that SA forces were rebuffed during heavy thunderstorms.

Final phase
The final phase of the campaign was centred on the city itself, as the South Africans continued pursuing their overall objective (Operation Packer) of driving FAPLA forces west of the Cuito river. The South Africans shelled FAPLA forces with artillery from the surrounding high grounds of the Chambinga Heights. South African and UNITA forces never captured the city of Cuito Cuanavale, but maintained that it was never their intention to do so. South African and UNITA forces claimed to have inflicted enormous casualties on Cuban and FAPLA forces, and to have accomplished their objective of repulsing the offensive against UNITA havens in southeast Angola. Cuban and FAPLA forces, however, count the failure of the South Africans to capture the city and the resilience of their troops under bombardment as a triumph.

The battle of Cuito Cuanavale and the Cuban intervention in Angola is one of the turning points in Southern African History. It led to the movement of powerful Cuban armed force, into the west, towards the Namibian border. The fighting in the south western part of Angola led to the withdrawal of the South African, ANC and Cuban presence in Angola, and to the Independence of Namibia.

The battle of Cuito Cuanavale is, however, a contentious issue, widely discussed and debated by ordinary people, participants and historians. Depending on where you stand, Cuito Cuanavale is described as a defeat of the South African Defence Forces (SADF), a tactical withdrawal by the SADF, or, a stalemate.

The battle, or more correctly termed the siege, of Cuito Cuanavale was fought on the banks of the Lomba River in the vicinity of Cuito Cuanavale, in south-eastern Angola, between UNITA (aided by the SADF) and the Angolan army (FAPLA) aided by Cuba, the Soviet Union and to a lesser extent East Germany. The stakes were high for both sides and the battle involved the biggest conventional operations of South African forces since World War II.

The battle of Cuito Cuanavale

In October FAPLA’s advancing 47th Brigade at the Lomba River, 40 kilometers south-east of Cuito, was all but destroyed in an attack by SADF forces hastening to UNITA’s rescue.

A scene from the battle. picture: cuba.cu

Several other FAPLA brigades wilted under heavy bombardment but managed to retreat to Cuito, a minor town near the confluence of two rivers that constitute its name, set in the remote expanse of south-east Angola, a region the Portuguese referred to as the Land at the End of the Earth.

Cuito could have been overrun then and there by the SADF, changing the strategic situation overnight. The interior of the country would have been opened up to domination by UNITA with Angola being split in half. But, for whatever reason, the SADF failed to seize the initiative. This allowed an initial contingent of 120 Cuban troops to rush to the town from Menongue, 150 kilometers to the north-west and help organize the defences.

It is from this point in the battle that opinions and interpretations of events differ. How the battle is seen, depends on how the intention of the South African regime is perceived. However, the events that follow FAPLA’s retreat to Cuito are fairly clear. Following the battles at the Lomba River in November 1987, battles on 13 January and 14 and 15 February followed. On 23 March 1988 the SADF launched its last major attack on Cuito Cuanavale.

The cuban forces: school of thought on the intentions and the outcomes of the battle

One school of thought (supported by the ANC, Cuba, other liberation movements and several historians) is that South Africa’s decision to launch the attack was influenced by their intention to rescue UNITA and their want to seize the town of Cuito Cuanavale through the capture of the air force base. It is argued that the actions of the SADF prior to the 23 March 1988 are clear evidence of their determination to break-through to the town. The SADF forces attacked Cuito with the massive 155mm G-5 guns and staged attack after attack led by the crack 61st mechanized battalion, 32 Buffalo battalion, and later 4th SA Infantry group.

On the 23rd March the battle reached a halt. In the words of 32 Batttalion commander, Colonel Jan Breytenbach. He writes: ‘the Unita soldiers did a lot of dying that day’ and ‘the full weight of FAPLA’s defensive fire was brought down on the heads of [SADF] Regiment President Steyn and the already bleeding Unita.’

According to this view, the SADF failed in its intention and was successfully thwarted by the combined Angolan forces. This view is supported by Horace Campbell, Hasu Patel, P Gleijeses, Ronnie Kasrils and others.

The SADF forces: school of thought on the intentions and the outcomes of the battle

The second school of thought maintains that the SADF had only limited objectives, namely, to halt the enemy at Cuito, to prevent its airstrip from being used, and then to retreat. Further action would have undermined negotiations between Cuba, Angola and South Africa, which began in London early in 1988 and continued in May in Brazzaville, Congo, and Cairo, Egypt. By this time, the South African government had already recognised the political change in Russia and the ending of the cold war. Gen. Jannie Geldenhuys, Chief of the SADF, stated that the most important battle in the campaign was when the Cubans were defeated at the Lomba River and Cuito Cuanavale was simply part of a mopping up operation after this battle. This view is also supported by Gen. Magnus Malan, South African minister of defence at the time. Following this the SADF’s intention was to prevent the capture of Mavinga and through that prevent assaults on Jamba. This was successfully accomplished. This view is supported by the SADF and several historians such as Fred Bridgeland, W.M. James and others.

In addition both SADF and military analyst’s statistics are mentioned contradicting claims of a victory. Gen. Jannie Geldenhuys, Chief of the SADF, quoted the following in support of this argument:
CUBA/FAPLA SADF
Tanks destroyed: 94 3
Troop carriers destroyed: 100 5
Logistical vehicles destroyed: 389 1
Soldiers killed: 4 785 31

The idea of a SADF withdrawal might explain both Fidel Castro and Ronnie Kasrils’ observations that ‘the SADF were far too cautious, missed a remarkable opportunity and failed to seize initiative (at Cuito)’. Although this observation in part contradicts the SADF’s aims it emphasise the limitations to their orders to simply halt the enemy.

Conclusion

Whether it was a tactical retreat by the SADF or an Angolan forces victory one cannot contest that the battle at Cuito Cuanavale was a turning point that brought the border war to an end and led to the peace negotiations that saw the withdrawal of the SADF, MK and Cuban forces from Angola and Namibia and led to the independence of Namibia.

The 20th anniversary of the battle of Cuito Cuanavale was commemorated this year. Nelson Mandela spoke of the battle as, ‘a turning point for the liberation of our continent and my people’. It is fitting that at Freedom Park, outside Pretoria, the 2,070 names of Cuban soldiers who fell in Angola between 1975 and 1988, are inscribed along with the names of South Africans who died during our liberation struggle.

Jacob Zuma, president of the ANC, led the party delegates to Angola. It was agreed during his visit that the graves of MK cadres who died during this battle should be identified and a monument be erected in their honour. It was further proposed that their remains be brought to South Africa for reburial.

This report comes from the Nigerian newspaper PRIMIUM TIMES:

The condition of Nigerian troops in Mali is quickly sliding from bad to worse as inadequate supply of provision is forcing the contingent to solicit food from locals, PREMIUM TIMES can exclusively report.

According to a reliable defence source who asked not to be named, the Nigerian contingent solicits food and handouts under the guise of "courtesy calls" to community leaders in Mali.

After one of such courtesy calls on Monday, the troops received a handout of a cow and 50 bags of rice from the Prefect of Tuban in Banamba region.

"Our officers and men have resorted to begging locals for cows and rice for survival," said the official.

"This is done by way of courtesy calls. They invite the prefects of the locals to our camp for visits. The prefect of Tuban (Banamba Region) visited today (Feb 11) with a cow and 50 bags of rice."

Last week, PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported that the initial 162-soldier contingent is suffering severe food shortage and a dip in morale as troops were forced to skip meals.

Our defence insiders said there has been no improvement in the provision of food.

However, the Director for Defence Information, Mohammed Yerima, a Brigadier General in the Army, told our reporter over the telephone that any insinuation of food shortage is not true.

"We have provided the contingent with enough food and fund to last them for the initial three months. Is Nigeria not bigger than that?" he said.

Still in Bamako

Contrary to information from the Ministry of Defence that Nigerian troops are involved in combat and have advanced northward toward the city of Gao, military insiders said the Nigerian contingent is still stationed at the Force Headquarters in Bamako.

We learnt that shortage in armaments has prevented the deployment of soldiers to combat positions. And many soldiers are yet to be paid their monthly sustenance allowance.

Sending troops in piecemeal

As of Monday, there were 210 soldiers in Mali with 70 more billed to join them on Tuesday.

President Goodluck Jonathan promised to deploy 1,200 soldiers as part of Africa-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA) but is having great difficulty meeting up with that number.

Mr. Yerima said the figure we cited is incorrect. But our sources dismissed the denials, saying Mr. Yerima's job is to make the Nigerian military look good.

"We have over 500 troops in Mali and Niamey (Niger Republic)," he said.

Since we are not reporting on Niger, we had expected him to tell us how many soldiers Nigeria has on ground in Mali.

The Boko Haram insurgency, Niger Delta unrest, and the country's commitment to the African Union Mission in Darfur, Sudan, have over-stretched the Nigerian Army, senior military sources said.

Despite domestic problems, South Africa (SA) has retained its status as the most desirable investment destination on the continent.
This according to the latest Ernst and Young 2013 African Attractiveness report released yesterday.
The report notes that the current account deficit and the high debt levels need to be addressed in this month's budget to make the country a blue chip investment destination for Rapid Growth markets.
Ernst and Young’s African Business leader, Michel Lalla says they asked over 500 business leaders from around the world, from 38 countries in 4 different languages.
“One of the questions we asked them is, which of these 38 countries is the most attractive investment destinations to do business.
“Forty one percent, over 200 respondents ranked SA as the number one place to do business in Africa, 300 people ranked SA as being in the top three."
The next highest was Morocoo, which was ranked at number one by just 8% of respondents.
SA also remains the solid platform for investment both in perception and numbers in the continent.
Lalla says, “SA attracts the greatest number of foreign direct investment projects into the continent.”
The professional service firm anticipates a steady acceleration of growth in the medium term, they estimate gross domestic product to expand to 3% this year.
Ernst and Young says execution of the National Development Plan (NDP) remains a crucial factor to kick start the economy and for job creation.
“The NDP offers us a long-term well mapped path to the future, one that will really help to kick start our economy and take us to the level that we need to be taken to, in order to address the challenges of poverty and unemployment,” says Lalla.
South Africa is also the only African country to be ranked in the Top 15 emerging economies worldwide
At the same time, South Africa has been ranked as the leading emerging economy in Africa, ahead of Nigeria in terms of potential investment destinations.
That's according to the Grant Thornton's report entitled "Emerging Markets Opportunity Index: high growth economies". South Africa is also the only African country to be ranked in the Top 15 emerging economies worldwide.

COME NAIJA BOYS PROVIDE EVIDENCE OF WHAT YOU ARE INTENDING TO DO:

South African missile and unmanned air vehicle (UAV) company Denel Dynamics, part of the State-owned Denel defence industrial group, is pondering a tactical unmanned helicopter project. The South African Navy (SAN) is known to be interested in such an aircraft, more formally known as a rotary wing UAV.

It should be noted that rotary wing UAVs are more complex and difficult to develop than fixed wing UAVs in the same size categories. Denel Dynamics and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research have both already developed small helicopter UAVs, but these have been little more than upscaled remotely controlled model helicopters, far smaller and far less sophisticated than the kind of tactical UAV the SAN would require and Denel Dynamics is now thinking of.

The intent would be to provide a UAV that could be operated from a wide range of naval vessels, and not just aircraft and/or helicopter carriers, as well as specialised civilian vessels such as research ships and even modified merchant vessels (traversing pirate-infested waters, for example). Initially, such a rotary wing UAV would be employed mainly for surveillance, although an armed version is conceivable in the longer run. It would complement crewed helicopters, not replace them. However, being smaller than a conven- tional helicopter, it could potentially be operated from vessels that would be too small to operate normal helicopters. As a surveillance platform, a rotary wing UAV would be able to support a wide variety of maritime missions, from search and rescue and peacetime constabulary duties such as fisheries protection, environmental regu- lation enforcement and antismuggling operations through quasi-defence missions like antipiracy to peacekeeping and, ultimately, war operations.

Worldwide, the most advanced known projects for tactically sized rotary wing UAVs are in the US. One of these, the Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout, based on the airframe and engine of a Schweizer light helicopter – reportedly the Schweizer 333 four seat turbine-powered aircraft – is now in limited operational service with the US Navy (one was lost on operations over Libya last month). A Fire Scout can stay on station, 110 nautical miles from its parent ship, for more than five hours and can lift a payload of more than 250 kg.

Another major American project is the Boeing A160 Hummingbird, which is being developed under a contract from the US Defence Advanced Research Project gency.

A third is the Kaman/Lockheed Martin K-Max project to develop an unmanned cargo-carrying helicopter for logistic resupply missions to frontline troops. The K-Max helicopter UAV is capable of lifting more than 2.7 t of cargo.

Note that, although both Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin are huge aerospace companies with enormous experience and expertise in many fields, both (unlike Boeing) have not been involved in the helicopter sector and both have aligned themselves with much smaller, but experienced, helicopter companies for these rotary wing UAV projects.

FOR NAIJA TO REACH SUCH A HIGHEST POINT OF ADVANCEMENT....WOULD BE THROUGH GOD INTERVENTION!!!

ITS NOT ME WHO SAYS THE FOLLOWING BUT MILITARY COMMANDERS

The Commander of the Brazilian Navy has confirmed that his service is interested in cooperating with South Africa in missile development. “We are beginning to discuss with Denel some joint missile development projects,” stated Fleet Admiral Julio Soares de Moura Neto in Cape Town, where he was attending the recent Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS). “Nothing has been signed yet. It would involve the joint development of surface-to-air missiles.”

Denel is South Africa’s State-owned defence industrial group, and its business responsible for missiles (and unmanned air vehicles) is Denel Dynamics, based in Centurion, just south of Pretoria. The only naval surface-to-air missile currently produced by the company is the Umkhonto (which translates into English as spear). This uses infrared guidance and is already in service with the South African and Finnish navies.

But Denel Dynamics has a project to develop a longer-ranged, radar-guided version of the missile, referred to as the Umkhonto-R. The Brazilian Navy has long been known to be interested in this programme.
Such a joint programme would not be the Brazilian Navy’s only missile project. “We have a national project for a surface-to-surface missile (SSM),” reported Moura Neto. “It is under development by the Brazilian Navy and Brazilian defence companies, including Mectron and Avibras. It’s running well. We hope the prototype missile will be ready in 2016.”

Currently designated simply as the Anti-Ship Missile, the weapon is intended to be launched from surface ships against other surface ships. It will be a medium-ranged SSM, in the same general category of the MM40 version of the famous French SSM, the Exocet. The MM40 Exocet is currently operated by the Brazilian Navy and the new national SSM could eventually replace it. [But] it’s a long-term journey,” he pointed out. “A missile is a very expensive weapon [to develop].”

South African defence systems are also under consideration by the Chilean Navy as an option for the modernisation of its frigate force. “South Africa is one of the countries the Chilean Navy is looking at [in its search] for cost-effective solutions,” said Vice Admiral Kenneth Pugh, the commander-in-chief of the Chilean Navy’s First Naval Zone. (He was also attending the IONS.) “We’re interested in South Africa. It’s solid, reliable and robust.”

The Chilean Navy’s frigate force is made up of second-hand British and Dutch ships, which must, in the coming years, go through very major refits known as midlife updates. “We are looking for systems we can integrate on our platforms [ships]”, he explained. “We look for open systems, which can be integrated with our other systems, in Chile.” The Chilean Navy has its own shipyard, Asmar, which, in turn, has its own systems integration capability. “This is proving much more cost effective. It works for us. We’ve been doing this since the mid-1980s.”

Should South African systems fulfil Chile’s requirements, “they could be options for the upgrade of our ships”, he pointed out. “Weapon systems should be mature enough to be bought. Sometimes it’s not good to be the first user. You must have something working in the navy of the country that developed it, proving that the system is working. A prototype is not good enough.”

He highlighted that the Chilean navy was always investigating options for replacing ageing systems and that the procurement process for new systems is a long one, typically taking ten years. For example, Chile’s ex-British frigates are equipped with the Seawolf surface-to-air missile system, which is now ageing – the UK Royal Navy plans to take it out of service within the next five or so years and its replacement, called the Sea Ceptor, is in an advanced stage of development. “South Africa has very good missiles, especially anti-aircraft missiles,” affirmed Pugh. “The companies you have here are very good.” •

Admiral Moura Neto and Vice Admiral Pugh attended the IONS as observers, while Keith Campbell was a guest of the South African Navy.

White South African farmers are now being courted by the north, by countries who believe their agricultural expertise can kickstart an agrarian revolution across the continent. They are being offered millions of hectares of allegedly virgin rainforest and bush, as well as land already farmed by smallholders or used as pastures by herders.

In the biggest deal to date, Congo-Brazzaville has offered South Africa farmers long leases on up to 10m hectares of land, an area that includes abandoned state farms and bush in the remote south-west of the country. The first contracts, which put 88,000 hectares in the hands of 70 farmers, were signed at a ceremony in the country last month.

Meanwhile, in Mozambique, some 800 South African farmers have acquired a million hectares in the southern province of Gaza, thanks to an arrangement set up by sugar farmer Charl Senekal, an associate of the South African president, Jacob Zuma.

Zambia wants South African pioneers to grow maize, and Sudan is offering land and irrigation water to grow sugar cane. Another deal, currently on hold, would see them take over 35,000 hectares of Libya.

Many African countries believe the new white farmers can end their reliance on food imports. But the farmers and their financiers often have other plans. According to Theo de Jager, Agri SA deputy president and mastermind of the international deals, the farmers in Congo-Brazzaville want to grow more profitable tropical fruit for export to European supermarkets, rather than grains for locals.

IN NIGERIA:
The Nigerian state Kwara is offering commercial farmers from Zimbabwe and South Africa, mostly of British origin, land to invest and resettle. A delegation from South Africa invited by Kwara state currently is investigating the offer.

Kwara's new Governor Bukola Saraki two weeks ago told Nigerian reporters his state government had entered into "negotiations with the British government" over the more than 2000 farmers of British origin "displaced by the Zimbabwean government."

The main purpose was to "bring in foreign investors" to Kwara state, according to Mr Saraki. In a later statement, the Governor added that "the state stands to benefit from the huge resources, international finance and high tech equipment available to the displaced farmers."

An official delegation of five white South African farmers, who also represent their Zimbabwean colleagues, yesterday arrived in Kwara's capital, Ilorin, to meet with Governor Saraki and to get a first-hand impression of the state. They are to stay one week at state expenses.

Zimbabwe's predominantly white commercial farmers have proven a popular export product since the Robert Mugabe government started expropriating their farms. In addition to the present Nigerian offensive, also several neighbouring countries - including Mozambique - have offered lucrative conditions to attract the skilled and capitalised farmers.

Kwaru state Information Commissioner Malam Abdul Rahim Adedoyin said the farmers were to hold talks with several "senior government officials" and inspect potential farming sites in three districts of the state. State organs were instructed to welcome the potential investors in the best possible way.

The Kwara government further has indicated it considers handing out land for free to interested Zimbabwean and South African commercial farmers. The relatively densely populated region was said to have large tracts of unexploited but fertile lands. In Kwara, however, the question has been raised, whose land Governor Saraki will be giving away, as many farmers in the state hunger for more land.

According to the Kwara Governor, however, giving under-exploited land resources to experienced commercial farmers - willing to invest in new technology and infrastructure and create jobs and new markets - could only be to the benefit of all parties.

Governor Saraki only came to power during the elections earlier this year, sweeping out long-ruling Governor Mohammed Lawal. Mr Saraki has promised to put an end to corruption and to encourage economic development of the poor state. The cornerstones of his administration are defined as being agriculture, education and water supply.

Agriculture remains the main industry of Kwara state. The principal cash crops in the state are cotton, cocoa, coffee, kolanut and tobacco. Climatic conditions are somewhat more tropical and moist than those Zimbabweans and South Africans are familiar to.

Kwara State is located at Nigeria's cultural boundary between the predominantly Muslim north and the mainly Christian south. The state, which was created in 1967, lies in the geographical south-west of Nigeria, bordering to Benin. It has an estimated population of more than 1.5 million made up of four main ethnic groups - Yoruba, Nupe, Fulani and Baruba.

HATERS OF WHITE SOUTH AFRICAN EXPERTISE WHAT UR YOUR COMMENTS

I am not suprised such dastardly, irrelevant, uninspiring and negative comments is coming from a Nigerian.....ITS LIKE A KETTLE CALLING POT BLACK!!!
For sometimes I have been reading comments posted by Nigerians and trully I have found such to be shallow in content and outrightly full of putting them down syndrome (PHD). Whenever a progressive and positive comments are made, it gets shut down not through a positive debate but a mob sychosis which is not intellectually stimulating.

All people are proud of their heritage and nationality but the problem however is when people begging to believe that their country is the best and start ridiculing those that differ. Such an approach shows weakness and cowardice to face the reality that Nigeria is an AFRICAN GIANT WITH CLAY FEET.

SOUTH AFRICA AT A GLANCE

Size: 1.2 million square sq kms (=Germany+France+Italy)

Key Economic Sectors: Mining, services and transport, energy, manufacturing, tourism, agriculture

Population: 49.32 million (mid 2009)

Official Languages: English, isZulu, isiXhosa, isiNdebele, siSwati, Afrikaans, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, Tshivenda and Xitsonga

Type of Government: Constitutional multi-party democracy with an independent judiciary. The country is divided into nine provinces

Major Cities: Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria, Durban, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth, East London, Kimberley

Currency: 100 Cents equals one Rand

Transport Infrastructure: Excellent, 7,200 km of tarred national roads, 30,000 km of railway lines, 11 international-standard airports.

DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1994

Since 1994, South African government has:

Built 1.2 million homes. In 1994, two-thirds of South African households owned their own homes. Seven years later, this figure has risen to 77%/

Redistributed more than 2.5 million acres of land

Provided running water for 7 million people. Water is nor piped into 76% of households, compared to 68% in 1994

Provided electricity for 3.5 million. 80% of South African households now have electricity in their homes. In 1994, this figure was only 58%.

Real wages and productivity have increased by over 20%

Spending on education has increased tremendously. In 1994, the government spent R31,8 billion and by 2000, this figure had risen to R51,1 billion. At 6% of the country’s GDP, the country’s investment in education rates among the highest in the world

23% of South Africans have matric, compared to 14% in 1994. Basic literacy is also up, from 87% to 92%

Government’s deregulation of the airwaves increased number of radio stations, 90% of the rural population listens to the radio, compared to 79% in 1994.

In 1994, 74% of all households had a monthly income of less that R2 499. By 2001, only 62% were still in this category. Higher-income brackets have grown. Households earning a monthly income of R2 500 to R5 999 are up from 16% to 20%, and households that now have a monthly income of over R6 000 are up from 10% to 18%.

OTHER SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS

Other significant developments:

International ratings agency Standard and Poor’s in November 2002 revised its outlook on South Africa from “stable to positive”.

In August 1002, Fitch Ratings also revised the outlook on South Africa’s foreign currency debt from “stable to positive”.

South Africa climbed two places to 32nd out of 80 countries in the World Economic Forum’s latest competitiveness index (2002-2003), boosted by its performance in the technology rankings, where it jumped eight places from 48 to 38. Overall, South Africa was the highest-ranked African country.

South Africa’s score on 2002 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by Transparency International (TI) slipped from 5.0 to 4.8 out of 10.

Conference destination - The International Convention and Conference Association places South Africa 20th on a list of top convention countries, and rates SA as the leading conference/meeting destination in Africa. For every eight tourists, one permanent job is created for a South African. About 30% of jobs created from tourism in South Africa are derived from conferencing.

Exports - Japanese researchers acknowledge that South Africa's export performance in the last four years is better and broader that that of Japan in the fifties and sixties, considered their boom years. (Source: INSIG Magazine, August 2002)

GDP per capita - The 2002 World Competitiveness Yearbook notes that South Africa has the sixth biggest increase in GDP per capita, compared to ninth place in the previous year.

JSE - The JSE Securities Exchange is the most traded stock exchange of any emerging country. At least nine of the 22 developed country stock exchanges are smaller than the JSE. (Source: INSIG Magazine, August 2002)

Productivity - In the past 15 years, South Africans have become 50% more productive. In the same period, American productivity has improved by 30%. The pace of improvement in South African labour force productivity is among the four highest improvement rates globally. (Source: INSIG Magazine, August 2002)

Small business - Small businesses in South Africa absorb more than half the people formally employed in the private sector and contribute about 42% of the country’s GDP. (Source: Department of Trade & Industry)

Vehicle manufacture - South Africa is the sole producer of Mercedes Benz Class C right hand drive vehicles, and BMW of South Africa (a subsidiary of BMW AG Germany) provides more than 70% of the leather requirements of BMW AG’s worldwide production. (Sources: Dr Roelof Botha, Gordon Institute of Business School and 2002 Initial Quality Study, JD Powers & Associates)

Wine - South African wines win international awards every year, and we have the longest wine route in the world. (Source: Fair Lady Magazine, April 2002)

DID YOU KNOW THAT...

South Africa offers the lowest industrial electricity rates in the world

South Africa generates two-thirds of Africa’s electricity

40% of the continent’s phones are in South Africa

20% of the world’s gold is mined in South Africa

South Africa’s constitution is the world’s most progressive, drawing on the experiences of advanced democracies.

The world’s biggest man-made hole, dug entirely by human sweat, spades, pickaxes is in South Africa.

The Gandhian notion of “passive resistance”, the strategy that won independence for India in 1948 had earlier roots in South Africa. Mahatma Gandhi lived in South Africa for 21 years from 1893.

The world’s first heart transplant was performed by Dr Chris Barnard in Cape Town on 3 December 1967. Now than 50 000 have now been performed worldwide

The world’s first and largest petroleum-from-coal refiners provide 40 percent of South Africa’s petrol. The company Sasol now competes globally in the energy industry.

The computed axial tomography scan was developed at Tufts University in the UK by South African physicist Allan Cormack and by Godfrey Hounsfield of EMI Laboratories.

The G5 long-range artillery piece manufactured in South Africa is exported to several parts of the world.

The swimming pool vacuum cleaner that does the job automatically, efficiently powered by the ordinary operation of the pool's filter, was invented in SA.

Large, unusually shaped concrete blocks weighing up to 20 tons. The structures are designed to break up wave action and protect harbour walls and costal installations.

They were designed by Eric Merrifield and first installed in East London harbour. They are now used all over the world.

NOBEL PRIZE AWARDEES

The following are South African Nobel Prize Awardees:



Max Theiler won the Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine in 1951, for his groundbreaking work on way to combat Yellow Fever.

Chief Albert Luthuli, former president of African National Congress (ANC), was the first South African to win a Nobel Peace Prize in 1960.

Desmond Tutu, former archbishop of the South African Anglican Church, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

Nadine Gordimer was the first South African to win a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991. Through her magnificent epic writing, she has, in the words of Alfred Nobel, "been of very great benefit to humanity".

Nelson Mandela, the first democratically elected president of South Africa, was the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1993 for his work on the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa. The Prize was jointly won with FW de Klerk, who make history by releasing Nelson Mandela from prison.

JM Coetzee won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003, for writing that "upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history", according to the Nobel Foundation.

ATLEAST SOUTH AFRICA HAS BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE THE FOLLOWING LISTED BELOW ACHIEVEMENTS SINCE 1994: SINCE THE BLACK MAN TOOK POWER

Fast Facts & Quick Stats About South Africa

Political
•According to the Open Budget Index 2012, South Africa has the 2nd most transparent budget in the world. In 2010, SA was ranked 1st. (International Budget Partnership)
•South Africa is the only African country that is a member of the G20.
•South Africa ranks 5th overall on the 2011 Ibrahim Index which measures the quality of African governance, Mauritius, Cape Verde, Botswana and Seychelles took the first four places out of 53 (Mo Ibrahim Foundation)
•South Africa ranks 28th out of 167 countries surveyed in the 2011 Democracy Index, compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, ahead of France, Italy, Greece and all of the other BRICS countries. WorldAudit.org ranks South Africa as the 43rd most democratic country in 2011.
•In the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Survey of Democratic Freedom, South Africa ranks 31st out of 184 countries.
•According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2010/11, South Africa has the 34th most efficient government out of the 139 countries ranked.
•WorldAudit.org ranks South Africa as the 47th least corrupt nation out of 150 nations surveyed in 2011, ahead of Italy, Greece and all the other BRICS nations. Transparency International ranks South Africa 64th out of 150 countries in its corruption perception index 2011.
•South Africa ranks as the 61st strongest state out of 177 countries in the Fund for Peace's Failed State Index 2011. The index measures state vulnerability based on 12 social, economic, political and military indicators.
•In terms of the Global Competitiveness Report 2012, South Africa’s biggest improvements over the past year have been Reliability of police services (we moved from 104 to 95); Brain drain (we moved from 62 to 48); Intensity of local competition (we moved from 63 to 49), Availability of latest technologies (we moved from 51 to 39 and Gross national savings as a % of GDP (we moved from 98 to 72).
•"Personal satisfaction" with the country's democracy rose from 49% in 2008 to 60% in 2011, according to the continent wide Afrobarometer research group.
Economic

•In 2012, at 5.5%, South African interest rates were at a 30-year low.
•South African Tax Revenue has increased from R100 billion in 1994 to R742.7 billion in 2011-12.
•South Africa’s debt to GDP ratio is 32% (USA 100%, Japan 200%, UK 90%). The World Bank recommends a ratio of 60%.
•SA ranks 1st among upper middle-income economies in the World Bank “Connecting to Compete 2012: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy” report. Overall, SA ranks 23 out of 155 countries included in the Logistics Performance Indicators (LPI). Its main competitor on the African continent, Nigeria, is ranked 121.
•South Africa sold $1.8 billion worth of cars to the US in 2010, putting us ahead of Sweden and Italy as suppliers to the US market. Car sales are projected to grow 10% in 2011 to 460,000 units.
•South Africa exported 36.9% more vehicles in 2010 than 2009.
•The South African stock market rose 16.09% in 2010, ranking 8th out of the G20 nations and ahead of all of the G7 countries (Bespoke Investment Group).
•South Africa is ranked 1st out of 142 countries in respect of regulation of security exchanges according to the World Economic Forum Global Competetiveness Report 2011/12
•South Africa is ranked 1st in respect of auditing and reporting, according to the Global Competitiveness Report 2011/12.
•South Africa ranks 1st out of 60 countries in the Economist’s House Price index for the period 1997 – 2009.
•South Africa's banks rank 2nd in the world for soundness, according to the Global Competitiveness Report 2011/12.
•The South African Rand was the second best performing currency against the US Dollar between 2007 and 2011, according to Bloomberg’s Currency Scorecard.
•SA ranked 1st in Platinum output, 2nd in Palladium output, 3rd in Gold output, 6th in Coal output and 9th in wool output. (Economist)
•SA is ranked 2nd out of 183 countries for good practice in protecting both borrowers and lenders when obtaining credit for business (World Bank Doing Business Report 2011)
•SA is ranked 3rd in the world for protection of minority shareholders interests, according to the Global Competitiveness Report 2011/12.
•South Africa ranked 6th in house price improvement indices as a % change in 2009, and 1st as a % change 1999/2009. (Economist).
•SA is ranked 10th out of 142 countries for Strength of Investor Protection, according to the Global Competitiveness Report 2011/12.
•SA is ranked 10th out of 183 countries for good practice in protecting investors in business. (World Bank Doing Business Report 2011).
•South Africa ranks 7th out of 45 countries in the "Big Mac Index 2012". The price of a Big Mac is 42% less in South Africa than in the USA. In Switzerland and Norway, it is 62% more.
•South Africa is ranked 12th out of a total of 134 economies in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2010, ahead of many developed nations, including, the UK (15th), United States (19), Canada (20), Australia (23) and France (46).
•South Africa ranked 15th in terms of "largest deficits" but as a percentage of GDP is not in the top 40 countries. (Economist).
•The JSE ranks 16th in terms of "largest market capitalisation" and 19th in terms of largest gains. (Economist)
•SA is ranked 23rd out of 81 countries in the Jones Lang LaSalle's "World's most Transparent Real Estate Markets" placing it well ahead of China, Brazil, India and Russia. "Robust governance, strong auditing and a developed legal system" were cited as the main reasons for leading the developing markets in this rating.
•South Africa ranks 24th out of 192 countries in the Economist’s "Largest Gold Reserves" Index and 30th in terms of official US$ reserves.
•In a survey of 192 countries, South Africa’s unemployment as a percentage of economically active population ranked 27th.
•SA ranks 28th in terms of number of cars produced and 18th in terms of number of cars sold. (Economist).
•South Africa is ranked 34th out of 183 countries for ease of doing business according to Doing Business 2011, a joint publication of the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation.
•South Africa ranks 41st out of 192 countries in the Economist’s "Biggest Exporters" Index.
•South Africa ranked 50th out of 142 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2011/12, up from 54th in 2010/11.
•South Africa ranks 54th in a comparison of the overall tax burden of 150 countries worldwide.
•South Africa ranks in the top 20 countries for agricultural output.
•According to a survey of 62 countries by the World Bank and the IMF, South Africa has the 36th highest foreign debt, ahead of the US, Japan and all the European countries surveyed. The economist ranks South Africa 29th out of 60.
•MTN has been ranked Africa’s most valuable brand in the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2012 survey. MTN becomes the first and only African brand to make the list, debuting at position 88 in the world.
Tourism

•The number of tourists visiting South Africa has grown from 3.9million in 1994 to 11.3 million in 2010. South Africa is ranked among the top 5 countries in the world in respect of tourism growth (growing at 3 times the global average).
•SA ranks 24th in terms of tourist arrivals at 11.3 million (France 79 million, UK 28 million, Switzerland 8.5 million, India 5.2 million). (Economist)
•Cape Town was named the top tourist destination in the world in the 2011 Traveler’s Choice Destinations awards.
•OR Tambo airport is the best airport in Africa, according to the World Airport Awards 2010/11. It was also in the top 3 most improved airports in the world for the same period.
•27 South African beaches were awarded Blue Flags, an international indicator of high environmental standards for recreational beaches in 2010.
•South Africa is ranked 66th out of 139 in the World Economic Forums Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2010/11.
•According to CNNGo (CNN's Travel Website), Cape Town is the 9th most loved city in the world in 2012.
Sport

•South Africa was the first African country to host the FIFA Soccer World Cup in 2010. It is only the second country in the world to have hosted the Cricket, Rugby Union and Soccer World Cups.
•In 2009, the Springboks become the first international team to be World Champions in both 15-a-side and Sevens rugby.
•South Africa is home to the world's largest individually timed cycle race (the Cape Argus Cycle Race), the world's largest open water swim (the Midmar Mile) and the world's largest ultra-marathon (the Comrades Marathon).
•5 South Africans hold the world extreme swimming world record for swimming 2.5kms around Cape Horn.
•Since the 1940’s, South African golfers have won more golf majors than any other nation, apart from the United States.
•According to The Cricketer magazine, Newlands in Cape Town is second-best Test Match venue in the world in 2012. Lords was first.
•The United States Olympic Committee pays out medal bonuses of $25,000 for gold medal winners, $15,000 for silver medals and $10,000 for bronze. SASOC will give South African gold medal winners almost twice as much with each medal earning R400000 ($47,700). South African silver and bronze medallists will earn R200,000 and R80,000 respectively.
•Oscar Pistorius is the first double amputee to participate in a track event at the Olympic Games. He bowed out of the 400m in the semi-finals having finished second in his heat at London 2012.
•Natalie Du Toit became the first amputee ever to qualify for the Olympics (Beijing 2008), where she placed 16th in the women's 10K race
Education

•SA has 30,000 schools (7,000 secondary, 23,000 primary). In 1994 only 12,000 had electricity. Now 24,000 have access to electricity.
•The University of South Africa (UNISA) is a pioneer of tertiary distance education and is the largest correspondence university in the world with approximately 300,000 students.
•South Africa’s learner to teacher ratio has improved from 1:50 in 1994 to 1:31 in 2010.
•The University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) is the highest ranked African business school and is ranked 47th overall in the world (Financial Times Executive Education rankings 2012)
•The University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business is ranked 74th in the world for the quality of it's MBA program, according to the Financial Times Global MBA rankings 2013
•According to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2011-2012, the University of Cape Town is ranked the 103rd best university in the world. Stellenbosch is ranked 268 and Wits 274.
•According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2011/12, South Africa is ranked 13th out of 142 countries for it's quality of management schools.
•61% of South African primary school children and 30% of high school children receive free food as part of the school feeding scheme.
•The first MBA programme outside of the United States was started by the University of Pretoria in 1949.
•Stellenbosch University was the first African university in the world to design and launch a microsatellite
•297 new ECD (Early Childhood Development) centres have been set up and registered in the first quarter of 2011
Environmental

•In 1991, South Africa became the first country in the world to provide full protection status　for the Great White shark within its jurisdictional waters. Countries including USA, Australia, Malta and Namibia followed suit later.
•Cape Town has the fifth-best blue sky in the world according to the UK's National Physical Laboratory.
•Johannesburg ranks 2nd among countries from Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa in dealing with urbanisation and environmental challenges, in the MasterCard Insights Report on Urbanisation and Environmental Challenges.
•South Africa is the only country to house an entire floral kingdom (Fynbos), one of only 6 on the planet.
•The Vredefort Dome (or Vredefort crater) in the Free State, is the largest verified impact crater on Earth at between 250 and 300km in diameter and is estimated to be over 2 billion years old.
•SA ranks 18th in terms of biggest emitters of CO², 9th as a proportion of GDP and 27th in terms of CO² per person. (Economist).
•South Africa has the highest level of international certification of its tree plantations in the world. Over 80% of South African plantations are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa
•All paper in South Africa is produced from plantation grown trees, recycled paper or bagasse (sugar cane fibre). Fibre is not sourced from the wood of rainforests, indigenous or boreal trees. This is a myth, often wrongfully perpetuated by e-mail footnotes. Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa
•The proportion of the South African population using improved drinking water sources was 91% in 2010, up from 83% in 1990. (WHO/UNICEF, March 2012)
Social and Infrastructure

•SA's population is the 27th largest in the world (there are 230 countries, only 80 have a population in excess of 10 million).
•The current police to population ratio is approximately 1:308 (SAPS – April 2011). This ranks South Africa as the 9th best
•There are 195,000 in the employ of SA Police. There are 411,000 in the employ of private security companies. TOTAL 606,000. Divide by 49,000,000. Conclusion: for every 80 citizens there is someone looking after some or other aspect of safety and security. Or put differently 1250 security ‘officials’ per 100,000 citizens! (Business Day)
•The percentage of the South African population with access to clean drinking water has increased from 62% in 1994, to 93% in 2011. Access to electricity has increased from 34% in 1994, to 84% in 2011.
•In 2010, 13.5 million South Africans benefited from access to social grants, 8.5 million of which were children, 3.5 million pensioners and 1.5 million with disabilities. In 1994, only 2.5 million people had access to social grants, the majority of which were pensioners.
•Since 1994, 435 houses have been built each day for the poor.
•According to Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamimi of the 914 poverty alleviation programmes launched by government 232 have collapsed
•Two South African cities were voted amongst the world's top 100 Most Liveable Cities in the 2010 study conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Cape Town was ranked in 86th place and Johannesburg 90th
•SA ranks 8th out of 142 countries on the Legal Rights index, (Global Competitiveness Report 2011/12).
•SA ranks 30th out of 142 countries on property rights (Global Competitiveness Report 2011/12).
•Johannesburg is ranked as the 87th largest city in the world. Tokyo is the largest with a population of 36 million (Economist).
•SA ranked34 out of 192 countries in terms of infrastructure and 12th for our rail network.
•South African media ranks 38th out of 178 countries in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2010, higher than France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and all of the other BRICS countries.
•SA has the 18th largest prisoner to population ratio (USA is number 1).
•In terms of total crimes recorded SA ranked 10th, USA 8th and the UK 6th.
•Out of 230 cities surveyed around the world, Johannesburg ranks the 151st and Cape Town the 171st most expensive city for expatriates to live in according to the 2010 Cost of Living Standards Survey from Mercer Human Resource Consulting, ahead of Tokyo (2), Moscow (4), Hong Kong (, London (=17), Paris (=17), Tel Aviv (19), Sao Paulo (21), Sydney (24), Rome (26), New York (27), Dubai (55) and Auckland (149).
•South Africa is the 19th largest producer of energy (economist)
•SA’s has the 17th longest road network in the world and ranks 29th in terms of most used, but does not feature in terms of most crowded. (Economist).
•SA ranks 25th in terms of "most air travel". (Economist)
•According to Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, Gugile Nkwinti 90% of the land re-distributed to emerging farmers (approx 930 farms) is lying fallow and unproductive
•SA’s rail network is ranked 11th in terms of longest networks and 9th in terms of millions of tons per km transported. (Economist)
•SA ranks 24th in terms of "lowest divorce rate" per 100,000 of population. (Economist).
•49% of Zulu speakers think the statement 'Cultural customs and traditions define who I am' is very true. 27% of Afrikaans speakers feel the same way.
•South Africa is ranked 26th in the world for gross indoor exhibition space at 180,000 square meters, which is approx 25% of all exhibition space available in Africa, according to the 2011 World Map of Exhibition Venues published by the UFI.
Health

•14.7 million South Africans have been tested for HIV, 13 million in public health facilities and 1.7 million in private health care facilities, as part of the HIV counselling and testing (HCT) campaign
•South Africa has 1 doctor per 1000 population and 3 beds per 1000 population (Spain 3 doctors per 1000 population and 3.4 beds, UK 2 doctors per 1000 population and 4 beds, South Korea 1.4 doctors per 1000 population and 7.1 beds, USA 2.7 doctors per 1000 population and 3 beds). (Economist)
•South Africa ranked 4th in terms of HIV/Aids prevalence amongst population behind Swaziland, Botswana and Lesotho. (Economist)
•SA ranks 20th in terms of death per 1000 of population (15) alongside Russia, Afghanistan is at No 1 (18.2), UK ranks 58th (10). South Africa does not feature in the world’s 44 highest infant mortality rates. (Economist)
Miscellaneous

•South Africa has 11 official, state wide, languages, more than any other country.
•The only street in the world to house 2 Nobel Peace Prize winners is in Soweto. Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu both have houses in Vilakazi Street, Orlando West. SA ranks 7th in terms of number of Nobel Peace prizes. (Economist).
•Two of the world’s most profoundly compassionate philosophies originated in South Africa – Ubuntu (the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity) and Gandhi’s notion of "Passive resistance" (Satyagraha), which he developed while living in South Africa.
•The Western Deep Level mines are the world’s deepest mines at approaching 4km.
•South Africa houses one of the three largest telescopes in the world at Sutherland in the Karoo.
•South Africa is the first, and to date only, country to build nuclear weapons and then voluntarily dismantle its entire nuclear weapons programme.
•SA ranks 12th in terms of beer consumption (China 1; USA 2; Russia 3; Brazil 4 and Germany 5).
•SA has 45 million active cell phones (population 49 million) – ranking in the top 5 globally in terms of cell phone coverage.
•SA has 66 colour TV’s per 100 households, 9 telephone lines per 100 population and 90 mobile telephone subscribers per 100 population. (Economist).
•2 Cape Town restaurants are in the top 50 restaurants in the world according to the S.Pellegrino Worlds 50 Best Restaurants list 2010. La Colombe restaurant in Constantia, Cape Town, was voted the 12th best and Le Quartier Francais in Franschhoek came in at 31
•South Africa has 8.5 computers per 100 population (UK 80, Spain 40,South Korea 47 and USA 80). (Economist).
•SA ranks 31st in terms of internet users per 1000 population. (Economist).
•SA ranks 16th in terms of cinema visits per 1000 population. (Economist).
•South Africa does not feature on the "brain drain" list of 20 countries. (Economist).

Missile:

South Africa has decades of experience developing missile and rocket technology, but it dismantled its covert ballistic missile program after announcing the end of its secret nuclear weapons program in the early 1990s. Since the mid-1960s, South Africa has developed short-range tactical missiles; in the 1970s and 1980s, South Africa, with help from Israel, began developing a longer range ballistic missile as a possible delivery vehicle for nuclear warheads. A July 1989 test launch of what South Africa called a "booster rocket" confirmed Pretoria had a ballistic missile program similar to Israel's Jericho missile series, and precipitated intense scrutiny from the United Nations and the United States.[1] South Africa had dismantled its nuclear weapons program by the early 1990s, and subsequently halted its long-range missile program. It is now a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), and the Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation.

Ballistic Missiles and Rockets

South Africa developed the Republic of South Africa (RSA) missile series, based largely on Israeli missiles. Armscor, the principal developer of Pretoria's nuclear weapons system, designed gun-type nuclear devices that could be delivered by aircraft, but it had plans to upgrade the weapons for possible delivery by RSA missiles.

Pretoria developed four missiles.The RSA-1 was an intermediate-range, single-stage ballistic missile with a 1,100km trajectory coupled with a standard warhead mass of 1,500kg. The RSA-2 followed, with a range of 1,900km and the ability to carry a 1,500kg standard warhead mass.The RSA-3, based on the Israeli Jericho missile/Shavit launch vehicle, was a three-stage solid-fueled orbital launch vehicle. While Pretoria wanted to develop a long-range ballistic missile for warhead delivery, it did not have the technology at the time to produce a lightweight warhead for missile delivery.The RSA-3's first stage had control or steering vanes in the exhaust and at the base of the vehicle. A guidance/ orientation/spin-up bus for the third stage and payload, totaling a mass of 583kg, topped the second stage. After second stage burnout, the spin-stabilized third stage placed the payload into orbit. To support its missile development program, South Africa developed an indigenous solid-propellant production capability. The RSA-4 was still in development when Pretoria announced the dismantlement of its nuclear weapons program and subsequently its space program.

History

1960s to Early 1980s: South Africa Increases Missile Range with Israeli Aid
The Armaments Corporation of South Africa (Armscor) began developing rockets and missiles in the mid-1960s, focusing primarily on short-range tactical missiles for battlefield use. By the early 1980s, Armscor produced only two missiles used by the South African Defence Forces (SADF): the 22km range Valkiri surface-to-surface artillery missile, and the 4-10km range V3 Kukri air-to-air missile.However, in tandem with South Africa's secret nuclear weapons program begun in the mid-1970s, Pretoria began an effort to acquire or build a long-range missile. At that time, South Africa had little if any experience with relevant technologies such as high-thrust engines, propellant production, and inertial guidance systems. Thus, Pretoria turned to Israel, an important military supplier since the 1950s, and one of the few countries to provide military technology to South Africa after the United Nations imposed embargoes on the country for its apartheid system in 1963 and 1977.

A March 1975 memo addressed to the SADF Commandant-General from the Chief of Staff indicates that Israel had offered to sell Pretoria 500km range Jericho-1 missiles, and that Pretoria was interested in acquiring the nuclear warheads to arm these missiles. Rather than buy off-the-shelf Israeli missiles, Pretoria apparently decided to use Israeli designs and technical assistance.In 1978, Armscor formed Kentron (now Denel Dynamics), a new subsidiary with a staff of 1,600 headquartered in Pretoria, that was responsible for guided missile development and manufacture. Kentron produced the shorter range RSA-1 and RSA-2 missiles, and also, with Israeli help, undertook development of intermediate and long-range ballistic missiles.

Israeli technological assistance included the design schematics and the capability of constructing the ten-ton solid propellant rocket motors that powered the Jericho-2 missile. These motors formed the basis of two space launchers for the R5b space program. The overall design and capability suggest that the RSA-2 was either a licensed copy of, or modeled closely after, Israel's Jericho-2 missile. Moreover, the first and second stages of the RSA-3 used the same rocket motor as Israel's Shavit launch vehicle, and the third stage, also like the Shavit, had a five metric ton thrust spherical motor.

While Pretoria claimed that it was funding a space program, it sought to eventually use the rockets as weapons delivery systems.According to one history of South African-Israeli military cooperation: "In 1987 Armscor informed the South African Cabinet it could build a missile, based on Israeli design, which 'could hit a target in Nairobi within 300 yards,' about 2,500 km from South Africa."

1989: Rocket Test Reveals Nuclear Ambitions and Draws International Scrutiny
Despite UN embargoes, South Africa secretly collaborated with Israel on a ballistic missile program under the guise of a civilian space program, referred to as R5b. In June 1989, the Washington Times reported that, South Africa, with assistance to Israel, planned to test-launch a new intermediate-range missile. Later, an Armscor spokesman confirmed that the company had over the past six years built a missile test range at Overberg on the southern tip of South Africa. Around the same time, U.S. intelligence sources reported that South Africa was close to launching a modified version of Israel's intermediate-range Jericho-2, probably from a facility near Cape Town reportedly almost identical to Israel's launch site in the Negev Dessert. South African officials stated that the new missile had been under development since at least 1987, and would also be used as a booster for launching photo-reconnaissance satellites. A U.S. Central Intelligence Agency assessment reportedly suggested that South Africa was also preparing to test the more advanced Israeli Shavit space launch vehicle, which might be converted to a 3,200km-range missile.

On 5 July 1989, Armscor announced that it had successfully tested a booster rocket from the Overberg test range. Outside analysts, however, suggested that the test was of an intermediate-range missile, and U.S. intelligence officials thought that a short-range missile with a rocket plume strikingly similar to Israel's Jericho-2 missile had been tested. The test missile flew 1,450 km southeast toward Prince Edward Island.

After U.S. officials publicly stated in October 1989 that Israel was assisting South Africa in developing a medium-range missile, senior Israeli officials again tried to sidestep the matter, but later Israeli sources confirmed cooperation with South Africa on a variety of projects, including the joint development of a surface-to-surface missile armed with a nuclear warhead.[18]

1990 to 2002: South Africa Terminates Ballistic Missile and Space Programs
The July 1989 rocket test intensified international concerns that South Africa, with Israeli collaboration, planned to develop nuclear tipped missiles. On 15 December 1989, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 44/113 B, noting its great concern about this cooperation and requesting that the Secretary-General investigate. The resulting 1991 UN report concluded in part:

The South African missile programme relies on foreign technology from various foreign sources. The only source of officially licensed foreign missile technology today is Israel. Much additional technology is acquired clandestinely and illegally....If South Africa deploys long-range missiles, these are most likely intended to carry nuclear warheads.

Under pressure from the international community, South Africa renounced its apartheid system and began to dismantle its nuclear weapons program; in July 1991, South Africa joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as a non-nuclear weapon state. Despite these developments, in September 1991 the United States sanctioned South Africa for importing ballistic missile technologies from Israel in contravention of Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) guidelines. South African President F.W. de Klerk protested the sanctions, claiming that his country was developing space launch vehicles with the dual-use technology. After bilateral discussions on the economics of space launch vehicles, the South African government announced that it would stop subsidizing the space launch vehicle program and direct those in charge of it to determine ways to make it profitable, a prelude to folding the space program.

In 1992, Pretoria halted its missile collaboration with Israel, and in June 1993 South Africa agreed to refrain from manufacturing long-range missiles and to dismantle its capability to produce large space rockets. By this time South Africa had terminated the nuclear program and revealed its existence. President de Klerk announced the termination of the SRA-3 and SRA-4 space launch vehicle programs due to questions about the commercial viability of the South African space industry, a point later echoed by Foreign Minister Pik Botha. Western diplomats pointed to heavy pressure from the United States as the deciding factor to shut down the program. [21] Before South Africa could join the MTCR, the companies — Kentron, Houwteq, and Somchem — that actually built the long-range rockets were forced to dismantle key technologies and to retrieve blueprints and technical files from subcontractors.[22] After South Africa destroyed its plants and equipment used to build space rockets — or ballistic missiles — it was permitted to join the MTCR on 13 September 1995.[23] Under South Africa's 1993 Nonproliferation of Weapons Mass Destruction Act, the government requires import and export permits for controlled missile-related items. To further its contribution to the nonproliferation of missile technology, South Africa assented to the Hague Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCOC) on 25 November 2002.[24]

Recent Developments and Current Status

South Africa has the technical knowledge to build an intermediate to long-range ballistic missile, but has little incentive to do so. Moreover, Pretoria has championed missile nonproliferation and export control measures. The country is an active participant in international space science and governance initiatives, and government officials have periodically discussed reviving South Africa's space launch vehicle program.[25]

South African companies build and export a variety of tactical short-range missiles, precision-guided weapon systems, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) systems. The state-owned company Denel Dynamics (formerly Kentron) produces the Umkhonto air defense missile, the Raptor precision bomb, the Umbani long-range surface-to-surface missiles, and the Ingwe anti-tank missile.[26] Denel Dynamics collaborates with Brazil on the development of the short-range infrared homing A-Darter air-to-air missile for use by both countries and for export. In 2009, the A-Darter, developed at a cost of $130 million, was successfully flight tested.[27] Denel Dynamics also produces and exports tactical UAVs, including the Seeker 400 that was unveiled in 2008

Excellent article....sometimes its so refreshing reading true facts than patriotic fiction based not on facts but narrow nationalistic patriotic flavour.
Some bloggers believe and are so convince that their country is more African and defender of African interests than the rest of Africa. However when you read the content of their articles indicate a hate driven but inferior analysis with no substance of facts to support the argument.

Its with shame that Africa continues to be a backward continent and yet blessed with abundance of natural and human resources. These people only believe and very self deceptive that only the best comes from them and nothing more or less. In Military and economic technology and invention South Africa is years if not decades away from many African countries....AND THOSE WHO DISAGREE POST FACTS NOT BELIEF AND SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS ATTITUDE.

Its not about economic growth but capacity,capabilities,techical and technological advancement JELOUSY A SIDE FACTS NOT FICTION OR WISHFUL LIST OF WHAT WOULD HAPPEN....GOD KNOWS WHEN

If jelousy was a yard stick of progress definetly empty vessels like@LARRIDE would have won an olympic gold medal...Unfortunately a war between South Africa and Nigeria wuld never happen so stop comparing apples and oranges.... for South Africa is on the class of its own....ANYWAY KEEP DREAMING AND SPEW YOUR HOT IMAGINATIVE COMPARISON WHICH DOES NOT HAVE ANY OBJECTIVE BASIS FOR ANY CONSTRUCTIVE DEBATE.

Regarding the Lesotho debacle South Africa did not envisage any military confrontation since South Africa never harbour any invasion ambition...yes blank ammo was initial used as no intention of war was expected but after serious engagement was observed. South African army took a serious posture which unfortunately led to nine South African soldiers and nearly 150 Lesotho Defence force killed and Lesotho army was dismantled and incapacitated. The entire operation took 72 hours to complete and order restored......LOOKING AT THE ENTIRE SCENARIO THE OPERATION WAS A COMPLETE SUCCESS. UNLESS SUCCESS HAS A DIFERENT MEANING.

What did it take for Nigerian army to restore stability in Sierre Leone and Liberia......Come WITH FACTS NOT HOT AIR MISPLACED PATRIOTIC EXPRESSION

State owned aerospace and defence company Denel has secured R5 billion worth of export orders during the 2011/2012 financial year and will execute these over the next five to seven years. It is also pursuing tens of billions of rands worth of future projects.

Denel has numerous domestic and foreign contracts in the works, the group announced during its presentation of its financial results last week. Denel made a R41 million profit during the 2011/2012 financial year ending March 31.

In its annual general meeting report, Denel outlined its cardinal campaigns that require stakeholder support in 2012 and 2013. These campaigns are valued at over R10 billion in 2012 and R15 billion in 2013.

In South Africa, Denel is working on several major projects, including the Hoefyster production contract, which is being undertaken by Denel Land Systems (DLS) – this campaign is valued at R8.4 billion. It will see the South African National Defence Force acquire 264 Badger infantry combat vehicles.

In its synopsis report of Denel’s financial results, auditing firm Ernst & Young noted that Hoefyster is 73% complete and on track, but 6% behind on contractual deliveries, although no penalties have been incurred. “Management is confident that the second phase of the contract will be finalised in 2012/2013.”

Denel Land Systems is also working on the GI-30 CamGun for the Badger and turrets for the Malaysian armed forces. Denel in the last financial year received an advance payment of R448 million for this 348 million euro contract, which will see it supply 69 two-man turrets fitted with the GI-30 30 mm main gun, 54 missile turrets equipped with the GI-30 and Denel Dynamics Ingwe anti-tank missile system, 216 laser-guided Ingwe missiles and 54 remote control weapons systems.

Denel Dynamics is responsible for the A-Darter missile production contract, and values this work at R700 million in 2013. The A-Darter project is 81% complete. In its report, Denel mentioned an A-Darter production contract with Pakistan, valued at R2.6 billion in 2013.

Some of the primary campaigns identified for Denel Integrated Systems Solutions (DISS) include the upgrading of 35 mm guns (worth R350 million in 2012) and the upgrading of the 35 mm air defence system (worth R1 billion in 2013).

Denel Aerostructures, currently producing components for the Airbus A400M, Gulfstream business jet and other aircraft, will be involved in the production of maritime patrol aircraft under Project Saucepan, according to Denel. It will also have a role in the replacement of the South African Air Force’s CASA fleet (under Project Kiepie). Denel noted that the campaign for aerostructures work from Brazil’s Embraer has a value of R170 million for 2012.

The CEO of Denel Aerostructures, Ismail Dockrat, said that good progress was being made on the A400M renegotiations and there would be further opportunities emerging from the confidence Airbus has shown in the company. He said Denel was engaging with other manufactuers, such as Embraer and Bombardier, for more work. “There are quite exciting opportunities we are pursuing,” he said.“We hope to be able to take advantage of commercial sector growth.”

Other domestic work includes a campaign to supply R100 million worth of small and medium calibre ammunition to the South African National Defence Force in 2012 and R200 million worth of ammunition in 2013.

Elsewhere in Africa, Denel aims to supply missiles for Algeria’s recently ordered Meko class frigates (valued at R700 million this year) and upgrade Algerian Mi-171 helicopters (value: R3.3 billion in 2013).

Denel is eying several contracts in the Middle East, including an order for Umbani precision guided bomb kits from the United Arab Emirates (valued at R250 million in 2012). In addition, one of Denel’s campaigns is a R450 million deal in 2013 to supply Seeker 400 unmanned aerial vehicles to the United Arab Emirates, which is believed to be the launch customer for the type. Development of the Seeker 400 is expected to be completed by FY2013 at a cost of R114 million.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, Denel lists Saudi Arabia as the source of a G6 artillery supply contract worth R6 billion in 2013. Meanwhile, Denel Land Systems is gunning for an artillery upgrade in Oman, worth R250 million in 2013.

Other campaigns identified by Denel include mine clearing in Turkey undertaken by Mechem, valued at R30 million this year. Additional Cheetah aircraft and missiles for Ecuador could be worth R180 million in 2013.

In a presentation to the select committee on labour and public enterprises in May this year, Denel identified several orders that it deemed critical to secure, including the Hoefyster project, A-Darter missile and ammunition orders from South Africa, Umbani and A-Darter exports and the second phase of the Ground Based Air Defence System (GBADS). Ernst & Young noted that the GBADS contract is 97% complete.

Denel Aviation is busy with the Rooivalk upgrade programme, which was allocated R78 million for 2012, and R116 million in 2011, according to Ernst & Young. The company noted that Denel Aviaton’s contract regarding Ecuador’s Cheetahs is profitable – it has a five year maintenance supply contract for the aircraft.

Under Project Drummer 2, Denel Aviation is upgrading the communications and navigation systems of the South African Air Force’s Oryx helicopters. Ernst & Young noted that this is an ‘onerous contract,’ with a remaining provision of R35 million. Denel is in ‘ongoing discussions with Armscor’ over the project.

In its May presentation document, Denel revealed that for 2010/2011, 56% of its sales came from South Africa while 19% came from the Middle East, 13% from Europe, 6% from North America, 2% from Africa, 1% from South America and 3% from the Asia-Pacific. The company’s Corporate Office is hoping to develop Venezuela, Vietnam and Africa into sustainable markets.

Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba said that last year the global defence industry was in trouble due to the global economic and financial crisis. Last week whilst briefing the media on Denel’s annual results, he said that the situation had not changed and the industry would be in this situation for the foreseeable future.

Gigaba said that declining defence spending in the United States and Europe is being offset by rising defence expenditure in China, India and the Middle East. The minister added that most Denel business is projected to come from the East and Africa. “Denel will position itself to penetrate the African market. This will require strong and active shareholder support.”

I am throwing a gauntlet... show me what your respective African countries produces in terms of military products and here below I based my deductions

The G6 is a 155mm long-range gun developed and produced by the LIW division of Denel, mounted on a chassis made by Alvis OMC (now part of BAE Systems Land Systems). The G6 is in service with the South African Army (43 systems - GV6 Rhino) and has also been exported to the United Arab Emirates (78 systems - G6 M1A3) and Oman (24 systems).

The G6 155mm self-propelled howitzer is a highly autonomous system with 700km vehicle fuel range, 50km weapon range using velocity enhanced long range projectiles and the ability to fire the first round within 60 seconds of the vehicle stopping.

In September 2001, the G6 achieved a range of 53.6km using the new velocity-enhanced long-range projectile (V-LAP) and the new M64 bi-modular charge system. V-LAP combines base bleed and rocket motor technology, while the M64 charge system increases muzzle velocity to 910m/s VLAP is part of Denel's new Assegai range of 155mm ammunition.

The G6 is operated by a crew of six - driver, commander, gun layer, breech operator, ammunition loader and ammunition handler.
G6 155mm howitzer armament

The 155mm main gun is equipped with a 45-calibre auto-frettaged barrel, a semi-automatic screw-type breech and an electrical trigger mechanism. The gun is fitted with a single-baffle open-type muzzle brake and a reinforced epoxy resin fume extractor.
"The G6 is a 155mm long-range gun."

The howitzer has on-board storage for 45 projectiles and 50 charges. Semi-automatic projectile loading is carried out using an electronically controlled hydraulic flick-rammer. Two loading chutes are installed at the rear of gun for direct loading from a ground ammunition pile.

Firing ports are provided for the crews' personal weapons and a machine-gun mounting is fitted on the left turret cupola with an optional machine-gun.
Extended-range full-bore ammunition (ERFB)

The gun is compatible with all Nato 155mm ammunition, including extended-range full-bore (ERFB) projectiles of explosive, cargo and practice types, which are all ballistically matched and with field-fittable base bleed units. The ERFB projectiles provide the G6 with increased range and terminal effectiveness. Using base-bleed projectiles, the G6 has a nominal range of 39km at sea level. As an example of the gun's accuracy, at 75% of the maximum range the probable error specification is 0.48% of the range value and 1mil in deflection.

A five-zone combustible case modular propelling charge system is based on cool-burning propellants which ensure a barrel life of more than 6,000 standard charges. The system is compatible with direct action, electronic timing or proximity type fuses.
G6 howitzer fire control systems

Target data is transmitted from a command and control centre to the commander's station in the crew compartment via a VHF/UHF communications link. The crew activates the gun by pressing an autolay button and the bearing, elevation and engagement data are downloaded to the automatic gun laying system.

The gun laying and navigation equipment comprises a ring laser gyroscope system equipped with a touchscreen control developed by the Kentron division of Denel. The gun has fully autonomous laying and navigation capability with no need for survey and alignment at the gun position. The system can be interfaced to an optional global positioning system (GPS). The system also has a back-up laying system. The gun is fitted with a trunnion mounted telescopic sight for direct firing up to 3,000m.
G6 self-protection systems

The G6 is fitted with eight launchers that fire 81mm smoke grenades. The high strength armour-plate hull protects the crew against small arms fire and shell splinters. The crew are protected against TM46 (or equivalent) landmine blast, 20mm gunfire from the front, and all around counter bombardment fragment and impact by 7.62mm ammunition.
"The G6 155mm self-propelled howitzer is a highly autonomous system with 700km vehicle fuel range."

The driving compartment is fitted with large bullet proof windows with an armoured shutter for the front window. When the armoured shutter is in place the driver uses a periscopic sight.
G6 propulsion system

The air-cooled diesel engine provides a 386kW power output. The six-speed automatic / manual gearbox is fitted with a torque converter. The permanent six-wheel drive has longitudinal and transverse differential locks. The suspension system consists of fully independent torsion bars with shock absorbers and hydro-pneumatic bump stops.

The wheeled mine-protected chassis supplied by BAE Systems Land Systems is capable of a road speed of 85km/h and a cross country / desert speed of 30km/h. The maximum gradient is 40%, trench crossing 1m and the fording depth is 1m. The cruising range on one full tank is 700km.
G6-52 artillery system

Denel completed development of a new artillery system, the G6-52 in March 2003. The system is offered with the Somchem modular charge system (MCS) which can fire the Naschem M2000 Assegai system which includes the V-LAP projectile. With the V-LAP projectile, the system has a range of 67km and a rate of fire of eight rounds a minute. Multiple rounds (up to six) can be fired to simultaneously hit the same target using the ADS (Thales) AS2000 artillery target engagement system. Automated ammunition handling, fuse handling and ammunition inventory reduce crew workload. The G6-52 provides protection against nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) attacks apart from small and medium-calibre weapons.

The G6-52 turret is mounted on a Land Systems OMC 6×6 wheeled vehicle which has an off-road speed of nearly 70km/h and a range of 700km.

Recent Developments and Current Status

South Africa has the technical knowledge to build an intermediate to long-range ballistic missile, but has little incentive to do so. Moreover, Pretoria has championed missile nonproliferation and export control measures. The country is an active participant in international space science and governance initiatives, and government officials have periodically discussed reviving South Africa's space launch vehicle program.

South African companies build and export a variety of tactical short-range missiles, precision-guided weapon systems, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) systems. The state-owned company Denel Dynamics (formerly Kentron) produces the Umkhonto air defense missile, the Raptor precision bomb, the Umbani long-range surface-to-surface missiles, and the Ingwe anti-tank missile.Denel Dynamics collaborates with Brazil on the development of the short-range infrared homing A-Darter air-to-air missile for use by both countries and for export. In 2009, the A-Darter, developed at a cost of $130 million, was successfully flight tested.Denel Dynamics also produces and exports tactical UAVs, including the Seeker 400 that was unveiled in 2008.

History

1960s to Early 1980s: South Africa Increases Missile Range with Israeli Aid
The Armaments Corporation of South Africa (Armscor) began developing rockets and missiles in the mid-1960s, focusing primarily on short-range tactical missiles for battlefield use. By the early 1980s, Armscor produced only two missiles used by the South African Defence Forces (SADF): the 22km range Valkiri surface-to-surface artillery missile, and the 4-10km range V3 Kukri air-to-air missile.[8] However, in tandem with South Africa's secret nuclear weapons program begun in the mid-1970s, Pretoria began an effort to acquire or build a long-range missile. At that time, South Africa had little if any experience with relevant technologies such as high-thrust engines, propellant production, and inertial guidance systems.[9] Thus, Pretoria turned to Israel, an important military supplier since the 1950s, and one of the few countries to provide military technology to South Africa after the United Nations imposed embargoes on the country for its apartheid system in 1963 and 1977.

A March 1975 memo addressed to the SADF Commandant-General from the Chief of Staff indicates that Israel had offered to sell Pretoria 500km range Jericho-1 missiles, and that Pretoria was interested in acquiring the nuclear warheads to arm these missiles. Rather than buy off-the-shelf Israeli missiles, Pretoria apparently decided to use Israeli designs and technical assistance.[11] In 1978, Armscor formed Kentron (now Denel Dynamics), a new subsidiary with a staff of 1,600 headquartered in Pretoria, that was responsible for guided missile development and manufacture.[12] Kentron produced the shorter range RSA-1 and RSA-2 missiles, and also, with Israeli help, undertook development of intermediate and long-range ballistic missiles.

Israeli technological assistance included the design schematics and the capability of constructing the ten-ton solid propellant rocket motors that powered the Jericho-2 missile. These motors formed the basis of two space launchers for the R5b space program. The overall design and capability suggest that the RSA-2 was either a licensed copy of, or modeled closely after, Israel's Jericho-2 missile. Moreover, the first and second stages of the RSA-3 used the same rocket motor as Israel's Shavit launch vehicle, and the third stage, also like the Shavit, had a five metric ton thrust spherical motor.

While Pretoria claimed that it was funding a space program, it sought to eventually use the rockets as weapons delivery systems. [14] According to one history of South African-Israeli military cooperation: "In 1987 Armscor informed the South African Cabinet it could build a missile, based on Israeli design, which 'could hit a target in Nairobi within 300 yards,' about 2,500 km from South Africa.

1989: Rocket Test Reveals Nuclear Ambitions and Draws International Scrutiny
Despite UN embargoes, South Africa secretly collaborated with Israel on a ballistic missile program under the guise of a civilian space program, referred to as R5b. In June 1989, the Washington Times reported that, South Africa, with assistance to Israel, planned to test-launch a new intermediate-range missile. Later, an Armscor spokesman confirmed that the company had over the past six years built a missile test range at Overberg on the southern tip of South Africa. Around the same time, U.S. intelligence sources reported that South Africa was close to launching a modified version of Israel's intermediate-range Jericho-2, probably from a facility near Cape Town reportedly almost identical to Israel's launch site in the Negev Dessert. South African officials stated that the new missile had been under development since at least 1987, and would also be used as a booster for launching photo-reconnaissance satellites. A U.S. Central Intelligence Agency assessment reportedly suggested that South Africa was also preparing to test the more advanced Israeli Shavit space launch vehicle, which might be converted to a 3,200km-range missile.

On 5 July 1989, Armscor announced that it had successfully tested a booster rocket from the Overberg test range. Outside analysts, however, suggested that the test was of an intermediate-range missile, and U.S. intelligence officials thought that a short-range missile with a rocket plume strikingly similar to Israel's Jericho-2 missile had been tested. The test missile flew 1,450 km southeast toward Prince Edward Island.

After U.S. officials publicly stated in October 1989 that Israel was assisting South Africa in developing a medium-range missile, senior Israeli officials again tried to sidestep the matter, but later Israeli sources confirmed cooperation with South Africa on a variety of projects, including the joint development of a surface-to-surface missile armed with a nuclear warhead.

1990 to 2002: South Africa Terminates Ballistic Missile and Space Programs
The July 1989 rocket test intensified international concerns that South Africa, with Israeli collaboration, planned to develop nuclear tipped missiles. On 15 December 1989, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 44/113 B, noting its great concern about this cooperation and requesting that the Secretary-General investigate. The resulting 1991 UN report concluded in part:

The South African missile programme relies on foreign technology from various foreign sources. The only source of officially licensed foreign missile technology today is Israel. Much additional technology is acquired clandestinely and illegally....If South Africa deploys long-range missiles, these are most likely intended to carry nuclear warheads.

Under pressure from the international community, South Africa renounced its apartheid system and began to dismantle its nuclear weapons program; in July 1991, South Africa joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as a non-nuclear weapon state. Despite these developments, in September 1991 the United States sanctioned South Africa for importing ballistic missile technologies from Israel in contravention of Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) guidelines. South African President F.W. de Klerk protested the sanctions, claiming that his country was developing space launch vehicles with the dual-use technology. After bilateral discussions on the economics of space launch vehicles, the South African government announced that it would stop subsidizing the space launch vehicle program and direct those in charge of it to determine ways to make it profitable, a prelude to folding the space program.

In 1992, Pretoria halted its missile collaboration with Israel, and in June 1993 South Africa agreed to refrain from manufacturing long-range missiles and to dismantle its capability to produce large space rockets. By this time South Africa had terminated the nuclear program and revealed its existence. President de Klerk announced the termination of the SRA-3 and SRA-4 space launch vehicle programs due to questions about the commercial viability of the South African space industry, a point later echoed by Foreign Minister Pik Botha. Western diplomats pointed to heavy pressure from the United States as the deciding factor to shut down the program. Before South Africa could join the MTCR, the companies — Kentron, Houwteq, and Somchem — that actually built the long-range rockets were forced to dismantle key technologies and to retrieve blueprints and technical files from subcontractors.After South Africa destroyed its plants and equipment used to build space rockets — or ballistic missiles — it was permitted to join the MTCR on 13 September 1995.Under South Africa's 1993 Nonproliferation of Weapons Mass Destruction Act, the government requires import and export permits for controlled missile-related items. To further its contribution to the nonproliferation of missile technology, South Africa assented to the Hague Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCOC) on 25 November 2002.

South Africa developed the Republic of South Africa (RSA) missile series, based largely on Israeli missiles. Armscor, the principal developer of Pretoria's nuclear weapons system, designed gun-type nuclear devices that could be delivered by aircraft, but it had plans to upgrade the weapons for possible delivery by RSA missiles.

Pretoria developed four missiles whose design characteristics are shown in Table 1. The RSA-1 was an intermediate-range, single-stage ballistic missile with a 1,100km trajectory coupled with a standard warhead mass of 1,500kg. The RSA-2 followed, with a range of 1,900km and the ability to carry a 1,500kg standard warhead mass.[4] The RSA-3, based on the Israeli Jericho missile/Shavit launch vehicle, was a three-stage solid-fueled orbital launch vehicle. While Pretoria wanted to develop a long-range ballistic missile for warhead delivery, it did not have the technology at the time to produce a lightweight warhead for missile delivery.[5] The RSA-3's first stage had control or steering vanes in the exhaust and at the base of the vehicle. A guidance/ orientation/spin-up bus for the third stage and payload, totaling a mass of 583kg, topped the second stage. After second stage burnout, the spin-stabilized third stage placed the payload into orbit.[6] To support its missile development program, South Africa developed an indigenous solid-propellant production capability. The RSA-4 was still in development when Pretoria announced the dismantlement of its nuclear weapons program and subsequently its space program.

South Africa has decades of experience developing missile and rocket technology, but it dismantled its covert ballistic missile program after announcing the end of its secret nuclear weapons program in the early 1990s. Since the mid-1960s, South Africa has developed short-range tactical missiles; in the 1970s and 1980s, South Africa, with help from Israel, began developing a longer range ballistic missile as a possible delivery vehicle for nuclear warheads. A July 1989 test launch of what South Africa called a "booster rocket" confirmed Pretoria had a ballistic missile program similar to Israel's Jericho missile series, and precipitated intense scrutiny from the United Nations and the United States.[1] South Africa had dismantled its nuclear weapons program by the early 1990s, and subsequently halted its long-range missile program. It is now a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), and the Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCOC).[2]

Secret or no secret capabilities indicate what you have and stop claiming non existing weaponry and blowing some misplaced narrow nationalistic and patriotic vitrolic hotair.

Back to objective discussion.....read the below attached article and please objective input

SA manufactures world-class periscopes

SA is one of the few countries in the world with the know-how and advanced manufacturing capacity to produce high-quality periscopes for modern submarines.

Local technology company, Carl Zeiss Optronics on Thursday opened its new facility in Centurion where the periscopes will in future be manufactured and assembled. The opening was conducted by the Chief of the Naval Staff, Rear Admiral R W Higgs.

Kobus Viljoen, the CEO of Carl Zeiss Optronics, says the local company has a long history in the development and manufacturing of periscopes.

It started in 1990 when the former company Eloptro (a division of Denel), upgraded the periscopes for the South African Navy's Daphne class submarines. Following this successful project the first export contract was won by Eloptro in 1997, for the upgrade of periscopes of two U209 class submarines for a South American country.

In 2001, Eloptro and Carl Zeiss in Germany signed a cooperation agreement to jointly develop and manufacture a new periscope to be fitted to newly build submarines of the German shipyard. This cooperation was a result of the acquisition of new submarines by the South African government and the obligatory industrial participation by foreign companies with the local industry.

With the growing successful cooperation between the two companies, Carl Zeiss Optronics from Germany decided, in May 2007, to acquire a 70% holding of the former Denel company. The company was renamed Carl Zeiss Optronics.

More than twenty-five periscope assemblies have been successfully delivered to Carl Zeiss Optronics GmbH in Germany, which are integrated on submarines sailing all over the world.

Due to the growing business in periscope manufacturing and the closure of the manufacturing plant in Kempton Park (where the former Eloptro was located), CZO decided to invest in a new facility in Irene.

The final assembly of the 12-metre tall periscopes require a specially-designed building that was opened on Thursday.

Rear Admiral Higgs says CZO's ability to maintain and upgrade the local submarines periscopes ensures that the most advanced technology for fast surveillance and observation will remain readily available.

This will strengthen the capacity of the SA Navy to protect the country's coastline against intruders and provides it with the assurance that a local company can deliver on one of the most vital parts of a modern submarine.

With this new facility, CZO is able to manufacture four - six periscopes per year. The entire production process is now done in one building including a number of "clean rooms" where the highly-polished glass-optics are fitted into the periscope tube in a pristine environment. The periscope is then moved to a tower for final testing and calibration, before being shipped out to international clients.

Viljoen says that the production of the periscope demonstrates the company's ability to design, develop, manufacture and deliver world-class optronics that can be used by navies across the world.

The business also boosted the South African technology and high-end manufacturing sectors. More than 15 local companies are involved as suppliers of parts and services in the production process - creating more than 100 skilled jobs at CZO and its suppliers.

DENEL CHEETAHS FLYING HIGH IN ECUADOR

All 12 of the South African Cheetah supersonic fighters sold to Ecuador have successfully completed their test flights and are now ready for deployment by the Ecuadorian air force.

Riaz Saloojee, the Group Chief Executive of Denel, says the sale of the 10 Cheetah C (single seat) and two Cheetah D (dual seat) planes is now complete and has been delivered to the complete satisfaction of the client.

Denel Aviation will continue to provide a comprehensive maintenance and support service to the Ecuadorian Air Force (FAE) for the next five years with an option for renewal.
“This is an exciting business opportunity for Denel Aviation,” says Mr Saloojee. “We successfully sold a fighter plane that was designed in South Africa and used locally for many years to a major international client.

“Our future partnership with the Ecuadorian Air Force will provide an important platform to showcase local capabilities for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) work to the rest of the world” says Mr Saloojee.

Mike Kgobe, the CEO of Denel Aviation says the agreement to deliver the 12 fighters was signed in the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, in November 2010. The government of Ecuador decided to purchase the Cheetahs as part of a programme to modernise its aircraft fleet.

The Cheetahs were delivered in four batches with the final shipment completed earlier this year. Prior to dispatching the aircraft, they were returned to service and flight-tested before being disassembled locally for shipment and then carefully reassembled and flight-tested in Ecuador.

Denel Aviation provided technical and logistics support to the local teams conducting the tests in Ecuador. Ecuadorian pilots and ground support staff also received extensive conversion training to fly and maintain the South African planes.

“All the stringent tests have now been completed and the Cheetahs were declared ready for operational deployment,” says Mr Kgobe.

Mr Kgobe says a significant milestone was reached on 17 May 2012 when seven of the fighters took to the Ecuadorian skies simultaneously during a fly past to mark the handover of command of the country’s air force to Brigadier General Enrique Velasco.

Denel Aviation is the design authority of the single-seat fighter that was locally developed as a variant of the Mirage lll in the 1980s. The Denel Cheetahs were retired from active duty following the acquisition by South Africa of its new fleet of Saab Gripen fighter jets.
Negotiations between Denel Aviation, Armscor and the FAE started in 2009. An Ecuadorian team visited South Africa in April 2010 to inspect the Cheetah fleet and to participate in specific evaluation flights.

Denel Aviation subsequently visited FAE facilities to review the infrastructure and technical capability of the Ecuadorian Air Force to accommodate the Cheetah aircraft, to evaluate the level of support required and to identify the need for further training.

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EXPLORING THE OUTER REACHES OF TECHNOLOGY

As part of its on-going skills development programme, Denel helped structure a Master’s degree in radar technology at the University of Cape Town.

Human capital and people development is critical to the survival of the state-owned company, a leader in the defence industry and a major technology hub in Africa.

This initiative came from one of the entities within the Denel Group, Denel Integrated Systems Solutions (DISS), where the design and integration of complex systems for ground-based air defence requires the highest levels of skills – for example, systems engineers have to undergo extensive on-the-job training before they are qualified and there are only a handful of them in the country.

DISS focuses on level 5+ of the acquisition hierarchy, with the sole purpose of supporting the SANDF in the acquisition of its Ground Based Air Defence System capability.

“In 2010 DISS found that in order to deal with the technological challenges of GBADS Phase 2, and to ensure sustainability of its business, it was necessary, if not critical, to groom selected employees within the radar technology field,” said Ralph Mills, CEO of DISS.

“An investigation into the market found that most educational institutions had no formal curriculum to offer in this field of specialisation. Amongst others, investigation led to interesting discussions with members at the Universities of Cape Town and Stellenbosch, the CSIR, Armscor and the South African Radar Interest Group (SARIG).

The outcome resulted in a structured Master’s Degree in Radar: Defence Electronics through the University of Cape Town in January 2011. The programme is a combined effort between UCT, Stellenbosch University, Pretoria University, the CSIR and overseas lecturers”, said Mills.

DISS has enrolled two employees, Shaheen Mahomed and Aadil Valli Essop onto this programme and their second year of studies is now well underway.

It remains a challenge to balance part time studies with work deliverables, especially given the critical realisation of the Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) and Operational, Test and Evaluation (O,T & E) of GBADS Phase 1 from June to October 2011.

Notwithstanding the full participation of both employees in these exercises, their unfailing commitment to the successful completion of their studies is evident. The Master’s degree is due for completion at the end of the 2012 calendar year.

Radar refers to all sensor systems that employ electromagnetic energy to sense the environment. Electronic Defence is the counter to this i.e. protecting sensors from unwanted interference by malicious agents. Radar and Electronic Defence embraces an extremely wide range of skills in all branches of engineering.

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Twenty five years after it astonished the global defence community, South Africa’s G6 self-propelled Gun-Howitzer still sets the standards against which all long-distance artillery are being measured.

“The G6 was ahead of its time when it was first launched in 1987,” says Stephan Burger, the CEO of Denel Land Systems. “Through our continuous research and investment in the gun we have ensured it remains ahead of the pack as the most versatile and reliable artillery system in its class.”

“We are still outgunning all our global competitors by a wide margin,” he says.

Burger says Denel Land Systems (DLS) is undoubtedly a world leader in the design, development and manufacturing of artillery. Modern armies still requires agile and flexible artillery systems to support troops involved in both high-intensity warfare and peace-keeping operations.

Artillery is used to establish fire superiority and hit high-value targets over long distances providing armies with a tactical and operational edge against enemies. The fact that it is self-propelled enables it to keep pace with mounted infantry and armour units over extended distances.

Based on the locally-developed G5 the 155mm G6 revolutionised artillery with its ability to hit targets over exceptionally long distances with an outstanding degree of accuracy.
Mounted on a wheeled chassis the G6 is self-propelled, giving it a remarkable agility and ultra-quick reaction time. Its ability to hit targets more than 65km away at a rate of fire of six rounds per minute confirmed its reputation as one of the most versatile artillery systems ever developed.

In addition to the South African National Defence Force the G6 has also been acquired by the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Burger says Lyttelton Engineering Works – the predecessor of Denel Land Systems – initially designed the G6 to meet the need for an accurate, long-range artillery system that is highly mobile and easy to operate.

The upgraded G6-52, was first launched in 2003 and is continuously being modified to “remain at the front of the pack” in modern artillery systems.
Some of the key features of the G6-52 are:

•Mobility and speed. Traditionally artillery pieces had to be towed, thus restricting its effective deployment in difficult terrain. The six-wheeled G6 changed the face of artillery because it is self-propelled, with the ability to reach speeds of 85km per hour on roads and 35 km per hour in off-road conditions. It can traverse terrain to a gradient of 40 degrees and cross trenches of up to one meters

•Range – the G6-52 increased the operational range from 50 kilometres – already considered to be remarkable – to 58 kilometres making it the premier system of its kind in the world.

•Accuracy – The gun is fitted with an accurate inertial and GPS navigation system. A ring laser gyro based gun laying system ensures accurate gun pointing to within 1mil (0.05 of a degree). Up to five rounds can be fired to impact simultaneously on the same target by means of the G6-52's advanced AS2000 artillery target engagement system. This maximises the surprise element to achieve better effect on the target
.
•Ease of operation – the G6 is served by a crew of between 3 and 5 which includes the driver, commander, gun layer, ammunition loader and breech operator. The on-board gyro-controlled navigation system enables the gun to be brought into action within 60 seconds of stopping and it can move off within 30 seconds after firing.

•Rate of fire – the gun can fire projectiles at a rate of six rounds per minute.
•Full-protection – the G6 is protected against counter-battery fire and its mobility makes it an extremely difficult target to locate and hit. The armoured turret and hull provide protection against small arms fire and shell splinters while the chassis can withstand multiple landmine explosions.

•Adaptability – the gun is capable of firing a wide range of 155mm ammunition including velocity-enhanced long-range projectiles (V-LAP).

•The ammunition for the G6 has been developed in South Africa and is supplied by Rheinmetall Denel Munition.

SOUTH AFRICAN AEROSTRUCTURE MANUFACTURER SETS EYES ON ASEAN REGION
16 April 2012
Experience gained by South Africa’s Denel Aerostructures in the design and manufacturing of the world’s premier aircraft is now also available to clients in South-East Asia.
The CEO of Denel Aerostructures (DAe), Ismail Dockrat, says his company is a supplier of strategic and vital parts to the Airbus A400M, the SAAB Gripen fighter aircraft, the AgustaWestland A109 Light Utility Helicopter and the globally popular Gulfstream G150 executive jet. DAe, a company in the Denel Group, is part of the South African pavilion at the Defence Services Asia Exhibition at the Putra World Trade Centre.
“We have the technology, the infrastructure and the accumulated experience to partner with clients in South-East Asia in all areas of the design, industrialisation and manufacturing of both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft,” says Dockrat.
DAe is one of a select few companies outside of Europe to design and manufacture vital parts for the A400M, the world’s most advanced tactical airlifter. On a recent visit to South Africa, Cedric Gautier, the Head of the A400M programme said DAe is “one of Airbus’s most reliable suppliers for the manufacturing of the A400M. We are pleased with the quality of workmanship and the engineering know-how available in the company.”
Best known for its design, development and manufacturing of South Africa’s Rooivalk combat-support helicopter, DAe is responsible for one of the largest composite-metallic hybrid structures on the A400M, namely the Wing-to-Fuselage Fairing (WFF).
The WFF is the essential part of the aircraft that protects the sensitive equipment under the centre wing portion against lightning strikes, hail damage and bird strikes.
DAe also manufactures the aircraft’s Top Shells – positioned in front of and behind the wings where it is joined to the fuselage. They are made up of more than 1 100 parts, consisting of a large machined skin, engineered out of an aluminium alloy. Its brackets support the vital electric and electronic wiring, hot air and heat exchange piping as well as the aircraft’s life-rafts.
Both parts were designed from scratch by DAe and are manufactured at the company’s production facilities located next to the O R Tambo International, Africa’s largest and busiest airport.
Having produced vital parts for the first A400M prototype aircraft, the company is currently ramping up its production to meet Airbus Military’s delivery schedules. Within the next four years DAe will manufacture 24 ship sets per year, moving off the production lines for final assembly in Seville, Spain.
Dockrat says a distinguishing feature of DAe is its “design to build” capacity – meaning that it is responsible for the entire production process, from the initial designs to delivery of the final product.
A key feature of the massive aircraft is the extensive utilisation of composite materials in its manufacturing. Composites such as carbon fibre, glass fibre and Kevlar bring benefits of flexibility and weight reduction to the manufacturing process without sacrificing strength and reliability. DAe has been a global pioneer in the use of composites in aircraft manufacturing for more than two decades, says Dockrat.
DAe’s manufacturing skills and capacity are also utilised in the production processes of other well-known international aircraft widely used by air forces and airlines across the world.
• On the Gulfstream G150 it is responsible for the tail section – or empennage – consisting of the vertical tail fin, the horizontal section and the rudder that steers the aircraft. Manufactured by the US-based General Dynamics Company the G150 is one of the world’s most widely flown executive jets.
• On SAAB’s Jas 39 Gripen fighter DAe manufactures the rear fuselage section, the main landing gear unit and the six under wing pylons that carry the armament, fuel tanks and high-definition cameras.
“Our participation in these international projects demonstrates the confidence of original equipment manufacturers in the high standards of our engineering skills and the quality of our production processes,” says Dockrat.
“Our company is on the cutting edge of aerostructure manufacturing and can make valuable contributions to ASEAN companies looking for industry partners.

SOUTH AFRICAN MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPANY

Reutech’s naval products span a wide variety of sensor and weapon solutions. As an Original Equipment Manufacturer, Reutech produces systems and sub-systems that cover the full spectrum of development, manufacture, commissioning, support and upgrade in the naval environment.

These products and services have been delivered to the South African Navy, as well as to a wide variety of users on all continents.

Further information on our naval products may be sourced on the following websites:
Radar Sensors:

RSR 210N X-Band Pulse Doppler Air-Sea Surveillance Radar
RSR 960 FMCW Air-Sea Surveillance Radar

Fuzes:

Naval guns of 76mm to 140mm calibre
Proximity and Point Detonation fuzing

Communications:

Ship to Air VHF and UHF Radio Systems

Solutions:

Sea Rogue Remotely Operated Weapon System
Naval Logistic Support
Naval Logistic Engineering

DENEL SIGNS R3.5 BILLION MANUFACTURING DEAL WITH MALAYSIA

Denel has signed a Euro 340 million (R3.5 billion) contract with Malaysia to supply a range of turret and integrated weapon systems to be fitted onto 8 X 8 armoured vehicles.

Zwelakhe Ntshepe, the Group Executive Business Development and Corporate Affairs of Denel, says this is the largest export contract in the company’s history and will result in a significant cash injection and job creation in the local industry.

The turrets will be exported to Malaysia over a seven year period – with the first consignment ready for delivery in January 2013.

Mr Ntshepe says the final negotiations with Malaysia were concluded at the recent Defence Services Asia Exhibition held in Kuala Lumpur, together with our local partners DRB-Hicom (Deftech), our partner in Malaysia.

The CEO of Denel Land Systems (DLS), Stephan Burger, says his company will be responsible for a number of strategic components that have been designed and developed at its campus in Lyttelton:
 69 x two man turrets fitted with the South African GI30 30mm main gun.
 54 x missile turrets equipped with the GI30 30mm gun and South African Ingwe anti-tank missile system. The order also includes the supply of 216 laser-guided Ingwe missiles manufactured by Denel Dynamics.
 54 x Remote control weapons systems.

Mr Burger says the production of the first consignment of turrets is on schedule and will be delivered in January 2013 for trials by the Malaysian Army.

The turrets and weapon systems will be integrated on the Malaysian Army’s 8 X 8 vehicles which are based on the Pars armoured vehicle platforms from the Turkish company, FNSS.

Through the contract Denel is participating in the Malaysian Economic Enhancement programme which entails the production and assembly of the turrets in Malaysia. The agreement provides a platform to transfer weapon system integration technology to Deftech in order to create a sustainable capability in Malaysia.

Mr Burger says the contract opens the door to future industry cooperation between the two countries including on-going maintenance and future upgrades of the turrets.

Mr Ntshepe says the manufacturing of the turret systems grew out of DLS’s development of the Badger infantry combat vehicle on behalf of the South African Army. The Badger meets the requirements of a modern army involved in both high-intensity warfare and peacekeeping operations and will replace the 30-year old Ratel as the mainstay of the mechanised infantry force.

The Malaysian contract strengthens DLS’s reputation as a strategic hub of innovation and advanced manufacturing capabilities on the African continent. It will enable the company to retain skilled and highly-skilled engineers and artisans and attract a new generations of innovators.

Denel Land Systems, a company in the Denel SOC group is a defence system house for landward mobility and firepower solutions. Its primary focus is to provide products to the SANDF but it also serves international customers as a technology partner, system integrator and subsystem supplier.

DLS is best known for its development of the G5 (towed) and G6 (self-propelled) guns, the world’s leading 155 mm artillery systems. The G5 is currently in service in Malaysia.

Mr Burger says DLS “has a unique balance of technologies and engineering capabilities,” to take complex systems or products through their entire lifecycle, from conceptualisation to production.

Riaz Saloojee, the Group Chief Executive says “I am excited by this contract as it confirms Denel’s position as a global player in the defence manufacturing industry and will lead to a growing interest from the international community in the quality and range of products and services produced by us.”
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