| South African Air Force | |
|---|---|
 The SAAF Ensign | |
| Active | Aviation Corps founded: 1912 Became independent: 1920 |
| Country | South Africa |
| Part of | South African National Defence Force |
| Motto | Per Aspera Ad Astra |
| Commanders | |
| Chief of the Air Force | Lt Gen Carlo Gagiano |
| Insignia | |
| Roundel |   |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Attack | Rooivalk |
| Electronic warfare | Oryx stand off radar jammer, Oryx stand off communications jammer, ELINT C-47 Turbo Dakota |
| Fighter | JAS-39C/D Gripen |
| Patrol | C-47 Turbo Dakota, Super Lynx 300 |
| Trainer | PC-7 MKII Astra, Hawk Mk 120 |
| Transport | C-47TP, C-130BZ Hercules, Oryx, Agusta A109, CASA 212 Aviocar, CASA CN-235, Cessna Caravan |
Aircraft Inventory
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Versions | In service | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fighter Aircraft | ||||||
| JAS 39 Gripen |  Sweden | multirole fighter | C and D (single and twin seat) | 15 | 9 JAS 39D twin seat and 17 JAS 39C single seat Gripens are being delivered between 2008 and 2012, the Gripens are replacing the Atlas Cheetahs which were taken out of active service in early April 2008. | |
| Trainer Aircraft | ||||||
| British Aerospace Hawk |  United Kingdom | lead in fighter trainer | Mk120 | 24 | "With the exception of South Africa's initial Hawk (SA 250) flight test and development aircraft, which was built in the United Kingdom, all of its other Hawks were assembled at Denel's aircraft factory at Johannesburg International Airport in Kempton Park near Johannesburg." | |
| Pilatus PC-7 MkII |  Switzerland | trainer | PC-7 MkII | 52 | October 15, 2009 The South African Air Force (SAAF) has contracted Pilatus to integrate an avionics upgrade on 35 of their Pilatus Astra PC-7 MkII fleet. | |
| Helicopters | ||||||
| Atlas Oryx |  South Africa | medium transport helicopter | MKI and MKII | 40 | Denel Aviation is planning to upgrade the on-board communication and navigation systems of Oryx helicopters under SAAF's Drummer project launched in 2008. The Drummer is a mid-life upgrade programme to extend the service life of 40 Oryx helicopters in the SAAF's inventory (the MKII version helicopters were specifically build for use by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism). | |
| Denel AH-2 Rooivalk | South Africa | attack helicopter | 11 | 1 lost to accident. | ||
| MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 |  Germany Japan | utility helicopter | BK 117 | 4 | Original aircraft were inherited from the Apartheid-era "homelands", the Ciskei having acquired 3 in 1983, Venda 2 in 1985, Transkei 2 in 1986 and Bophuthatswana 2 in 1987, making a total of 10 with an extra delivered from Brazil. Two of the aircraft have already been mothballed at AFB Bloemspruit. 4 remain in service with 15 SQ. Attrition: 02/11/99 Bk117 384 Rolled over after emergency landing. March 2003 BK117 383 Involved in an accident, later declared Cat 5 and cannibalised. 20/08/03 BK117 389 Written-off during Exercise Blue Angel. | |
| Agusta A109 |  Italy | light utility helicopter | A109LUH | 29 | 1 lost to accident; crashed into the Woodstock Dam. | |
| Westland Super Lynx | United Kingdom | naval helicopter | Mk300 | 4 | operated from South African Navy Valour class frigates. | |
| Transports | ||||||
| Lockheed C-130 Hercules |  United States | transport | C-130BZ | 9 | upgraded with new avionics and glass cockpits under project Ebb. Completed March 2008. | |
| Douglas C-47 Turbo Dakota | United States | maritime patrol / transport / electronic warfare | C-47TP | 10 | Under Project Felstone,(need to improve current fleet under embargo) the first C-47TP "TurboDak" serial number 6835, was unveiled at Swartkops Air Force Base on 26 August '91. This aircraft took four years to complete. The Project was completed by 1997 with two production lines - one at AFB Swartkop and the other at AFB Ysterplaat. However, the fleet has been constantly refined and updated over the years. The latest version being a dedicated EW platform. 5 maritime patrol, 3 transport, 2 electronic warfare. | |
| Cessna 208 | United States | light utility / observation | 208B | 11 | fitted with Denel infrared observation system under project Koiler in 2008 | |
| Beechcraft Super King Air | United States | transport | King Air 200/King Air 300 | 4 | ||
| Pilatus PC-12 | Switzerland | transport | PC-12 | 1 | mostly VIP transport. | |
| CASA C-212 Aviocar |  Spain | transport | 212-200 / 212-300 | 4 | ||
| CASA CN-235 | Spain | transport | CN-235 | 1 | The SAAF inherited its CN235 in 1994 from the Bophuthatswana Defence Force Air Wing, who acquired theirs in 1991. | |
| Boeing BBJ | United States | presidential transport | 1 | |||
| Dassault Falcon 900 |  France | VIP transport | 1 | |||
| Dassault Falcon 50 | France | VIP transport | 2 | |||
| Cessna 550 Citation | United States | VIP transport | 2 | |||
No comments:
Post a Comment