Roodewal
Bombing Range-Limpopo Province
The South African Air Force
Joint Helicopter operations were the host directorate for the second bi-annual
Air Power Capability Demonstration held at Roodewal Bombing range North of
Polokwane.
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| Lt Gen Zakes Msimang |
Lt Gen Zakes Msimang (Chief of the Air Force) addressed the media
and outlined his “Back to Basics” policy which is currently being instituted in
the SAAF. The policy has been formulated in an attempt to return the SAAF to
its former respected position. Discipline will be enforced and all members will
have to partake in mandatory physical training.
The Chief also illuminated the
skills retention and development program that the SAAF will be embarking on.
Generals Martins, Malinga, Mbombo and Pelser were also at hand to answer any
questions that the media may have had.
After the media briefing
a hearty breakfast was enjoyed by all, at breakfast the senior generals were
seated amongst the guests and media which gave rise to some interesting
conversation. I was fortunate to be seated with the CAF and Lt General Baine
who explained the rotation programme currently being used for the Grippens at
AFB Makhado, No Grippens are in long term storage or “mothballed” they are all
on a rotation programme which allows for required aircraft to be active at any
given time and the rest of the fleet on various states of standby some no more
than 3 hours away from being fully serviceable, all 26 Gripens are being
utilised as and when the need arises.
Soon after breakfast it
was time to board the waiting DC9 for the 30 minute flight to Polokwane
international airport, as in the past all present were very well looked by the
crew from Global Airlines. Upon landing all the guests were bussed to the bombing
range where a welcome cup of coffee was enjoyed. Unfortunately the weather had
taken a turn for the worse, low cloud and icy winds seemed to be on the cards
for the day.
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| Gen Malinga Officially opened the Event |
Major General Malinga
officially opened proceedings touching slightly on the upcoming deployment of
16 Squadron in the DRC and apologised for the absence of the Rooivalk AH2
attack helicopter as preparations were being made for the deployment.
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| Oryx's approach with Bambi buckets |
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| Water drop |
The
display was kicked off by a flypast of two Oryx helicopters with “bambi
buckets” showing their ability to accurately water bomb a fire simulated by a
smoke grenade. As Roodewal is a nature conservation area all fires that start
as a result of the weapons demonstrations would have to be brought under
control before they posed a threat to the abundant game roaming the range.
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| Fire guys always ready |
28 Squadron demonstrated
their ability to support ground troops by doing a massive cargo drop , they
managed to drop their full payload of crates within a 1000 x 1500 meter target
area. The C130 is celebrating its 50th year of service with the SAAF
this year.
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| C-130 preparing for cargo drop |
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| Away they go |
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| Spot on Target |
The display as is customary took the form of a mock battle sparked by the simulated downing of a BK-117 helicopter, this BK-117 is currently deployed for Anti Poaching duty in the Kruger National Park.
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| BK-117 |
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| BK-117 simulated crash |
The battle was co-ordinated from an Agusta A109 which quickly flew in to access the situation.
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| Agusta A109 carrying the mission comander |
Followed by the troop deployments by
Oryx helicopters from 17 Squadron, various deployment methods were demonstrated
Rapid Repel, Abseiling and of course the operational landing.
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| Troops ready for rapid repel |
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| Off they Go |
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| Safe on the ground |
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| Oryx leaving the scene quickly |
The Oryx was also
used to deliver the “gecko” all terrain vehicle used by the Special Forces
soldiers.
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| Oryx's inbound with Troops and the Gheko (special forces rapid deployment vehicle) |
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| Oryx and Gheko |
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| Touch down |
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| Long Rope deployment |
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| The battlefield |
Mortar batteries returned fire as the ground troops advanced
demonstrating the “fire and movement” tactics this is very dangerous as all
troops were using live ammunition.
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| Quick landing to deploy ground troops |
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| Mortar batteries doing their thing |
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| And away she goes |
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| Using an ant-hill for target practise |
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| Fire!!!!!! Result of the tracers |
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| Tracers flying all over the place |
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| A-109 inspecting the Fire |
The troops were then given the order to retreat and once again the Oryx’s were called in to evacuate all the ground forces, this would normally be done under cover fire from the Rooivalk AH2 attack helicopters.
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| Oryx preping for long line extraction |
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| Mount that Steed |
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| Extracting wounded |
And away they gp
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| Oryx and BK117 |
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| Long rope extraction |
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| Collecting the gheko |
The Gripen JAS-39 and BAE Hawk Mk 120 jets could unfortunately not take part in the battle as the cloud base was very low 1200ft AGL, Gen Malinga was quick to point out that had this been real operation they would not have hesitated to engage.
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| C-130 Pride of 28 Squadron |
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| Faithful Hercules shpwing of her flares |
A C130 then demonstrated a flare delivery, unfortunately two members of the crew were injured during the pull-up and recovery after the delivery of the flares, an investigation is ongoing.
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| Oryx flare drop |
The morning proceedings were concluded by all the participating helicopters performing formation fly-past with one Oryx pulling up and deploying flares. A delicious lunch was then enjoyed by all guest, while everyone was eating the weather took a turn for the better paving the way for the jets to do their demonstration.
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| Enter the sharp noses |
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| Grippens and Hawk |
The demonstration commenced with a simulated “dog fight” two Gripens from 2 Squadron engaged a lone Hawk from 86 Advanced flying school, not a very fair fight, as expected the Hawk was quickly dispensed of.
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| 2 Squadron at its best |
Gripens and Hawks then flexed their muscles with a cannon fire demonstration followed by a bombing run which rattled the display area, even with an impact point 3kms away.
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| 40mm cannon fire from the BAE Hawk |
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| The result of the cannon fire |
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| Hawk bombs impacting spot on traget |
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| Grippen Bombs making a mess of the target area |
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| Five Hawks in formation |
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| Five Grippens the SAAF's first line of defence |
All present were treated to a very rare display by the Seeker UAV, which did a slow flypast before landing. The seeker transmitted a continuous high quality video feed to the big screen throughout the demonstration, It is currently also being utilised in the ongoing war against Rhino poachers in the Kruger National Park.
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| Telemetry projected on big screen |
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| The sourge of the visuals the "Seeker" ROV displayed by Denel |
This concluded the day’s activities and we all returned to Polokwane for the flight to back Waterkloof.
The SAAF once again proved that they are ready and able to fulfil any task that they may be required to perform by the people of South Africa. Thank you to all the people that made this informative and entertaining day possible.
Link to the photos of the previous Air Power Capability Demonsration held in May 2013
