Department of Defence Annual Report 2008-2009

| Department of Defence |
Chapter 5
Programme 3: Air Defence
Overview
In the year under review, the South African Air
Force provided, prepared and supported air defence
capabilities for the defence and protection of South
Africa, and generated a total of 34 840 ying hours
with no major aircraft accidents in the year. The Air
Force Reserve Squadrons ew 2 706 hours (7.8%
of the Air Force’s total hours and 15% of the force
utilisation hours). These hours included support to
the contingents of the SANDF abroad, in support
of Government initiatives.
Defence Diplomacy was high on the Air Force’s
priority list, with 362 hours own transporting the
President and Deputy President on external ights
and a total of 1 570 hours own by the VIP eet. A
total of 46 foreign visits took place during the year and
the Air Force was involved in Defence Committee
meetings with Spain, Namibia, Botswana, France,
Mozambique, Lesotho and Vietnam to enhance cooperation
between the various air forces. There were
also inbound foreign working visits from Botswana,
Namibia, Senegal, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria,
Pakistan, Oman, Australia, Algeria and the USA.
The Air Force participated in joint-and-multinational
exercises with the Singaporean Defence Force, the
navies of South Africa, Brazil, India, Argentina,
Uruguay, the United States (US) and the Namibian
Air Force, while it also provided casualty evacuation
standby services for the British Army during
Exercise AFRICAN THORN. External support
ights, totalling 1 213 ying hours took place
to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
Burundi, Sudan and the Central African Republic
(CAR); helicopters were deployed at Kamina in the
DRC, ying 435 hours, and 110 Protection Service
personnel were deployed to Burundi in support of
government initiatives.
The Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD)
Exhibition 2008 was hosted by the South African
Air Force at Air Force Base (AFB) Ysterplaat, in
September 2008. The South African National
Defence Force (SANDF), together with the local
Defence Industry, contributed to the success of the
event, which was attended by representatives from
24 countries.
Interdepartmental support was given to the South
African Police Service (SAPS) for border-control
operations and during the xenophobia crisis,
while humanitarian assistance such as re-ghting
operations was provided in the various provinces.
Search-and-rescue ights for missing aircraft were
conducted, and helicopters rescued four people
in the mountains. Assistance was given with ood
relief in the Western Cape, where 62 people had to
be evacuated. Two tons of relief aid was delivered
and drought-relief assistance was provided to local
municipalities in the Eastern Cape. Interdepartmental
exercises were held in preparation for top-level
events, including the Fédération Internationale de
Football Association (FIFA) Confederations Cup and
the 2010 FIFA World Cup. These exercises resulted
in an amendment to the Civil Aviation Regulations,
to address the regulations and procedures for
identication and interception of civilian aircraft.
The integration and operationalisation of the
Strategic Defence Package aircraft continued and
good progress was made with the Gripen advanced
light ghter-aircraft programme, with six aircraft
delivered by the end of FY 2008/09. Fighter
training was completed with the delivery of 24
Hawk, which included 90% of air-and ground-crew
training and logistics support elements. The new
technologies and capabilities introduced into the Air
Force by both Hawk and Gripen will considerably
enhance the Air Force’s ability to meet the national
and Department of Defence’s (DOD’s) needs. The
Agusta A109 helicopter eet was increased to 27 of
the full complement of 30 aircraft.
Alignment of strategy and plans received
prominence during the reporting period by means
of the implementation of the Balanced Scorecard
(BSC). To execute the strategy at base and unit level,
the Air Force has adopted the European Foundation
for Quality Management (EFQM) model.
The transformation programme was again a high
priority, and progress was made with overall black
representation increasing by 1.9% to 68.7%, while
black representation in the core strengthening
increased by 1.5% to 50.1%. Overall women
representation increased by 0.9% to 20.8%. Women
representation at entry-level is to be raised to 40% to
| Programme 3: Air Defence |
93 Annual Report FY 2008 - 2009