/reeve.gif)
https://saflyer.com/saaf-over-stretched ... ollapsing/
Below are just some excerpts/quotes...
Yes, it really is that bad...
SAAF: Over stretched, Underfunded and Collapsing
BY: DARREN OLIVIER ON: OCTOBER 19, 2021
https://saflyer.com/saaf-over-stretched ... ollapsing/At this stage at least 25% of all the SAAF’s aircraft have been cannibalised beyond economic restoration, at least under current funding.
National Treasury has indicated that it will cut the SAAF’s budget even further over the next three to five years, regardless of what the 2015 Defence Review or national policy states.
YET AT THE SAME TIME two Oryxes, serials 1234 and 1237,
were being sent back to the Air Force from Denel, unserviced,
because they had stood waiting and gathering dust at Denel’s facilities for so many months
that they were becoming a liability.
There were even discussions within the SAAF about decommissioning both airframes,
given how unlikely it is now that they could be returned to service,
and handing one over to the Air Force Museumand using another as a training aid.
https://saflyer.com/saaf-over-stretched ... ollapsing/35 Squadron, in Cape Town, is able to operate only a single C-47TP for maritime surveillance at any given time,
28 Squadron can simultaneously operate only two C-130BZs on a sustained basis, going up to three as a surge capability when maintenance periods, commitments, and luck all combine. Three of its aircraft, 404, 407, and 408 require so much money to return to service that they are considered non-operational, and one (403) was lost in an accident at Goma, DRC last year.
https://saflyer.com/saaf-over-stretched ... ollapsing/Already a number of Gripens and Hawks have been cannibalised and would need hundreds of millions, if not billions, of Rand to return to service.
https://saflyer.com/saaf-over-stretched ... ollapsing/21 Squadron is facing a looming C-Check for Inkwazi, its VIP BBJ, and is struggling to bring its Falcon 50s back into service with the latest mandated avionics upgrades like ADS-B Out. Its two Citation 550s have been grounded indefinitely for over half a decade now and will never return to service. Its sole Falcon 900 has not flown in some time
also highlights the plight of the Rooivalk combat helicopters,
and even more about the Puma's/Oryx , which really are the workhorses of the South African Air Force.