THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE (SANDF) is looking to establish a dedicated disaster response unit. The SANDF is regularly called on to assist with floods, fires and other events. The Chief of the SANDF, General Rudzani Maphwanya, said that the military is looking towards establishing a disaster management unit.Read More →
Guy Leitch, Mike Peterucha – Russia’s much publicised failures in the air battle for the Ukraine contain many lessons for African air power strategists. In this article Mike Pietrucha (of the inappropriately named ‘Amateur hour”) outlines some of the key failings of the Russian airpower strategy. THE KEY LESSONS areRead More →
SOUTH AFRICAN ATE was the first company to modify the MIL helicopter HIND into a SUPER HIND with new gun, FLIR and other refinements . The first customer was the ALGERIAN Air Force who were very happy with the changes, and thus giving a new lease of life for manyRead More →
Despite enduring a world-changing pandemic in 2020 and facing an uncertain future, I suspect it’s nothing compared to living in a country at war. Which is what I found myself contemplating recently as I flew what is now a civilian version of a South African military stalwart, the Aérospatiale Alouette III. “My favourite helicopterRead More →
A Highway Patrol Officer was conducting speeding enforcement on Hwy 77, just south of Kingsville, Texas. (Story: Jerry Clifton) The officer was using a handheld radar device to check speeding vehicles approaching the town of Kingsville and was suddenly surprised when the radar gun began reading 300 miles per hourRead More →
Smirnykh, Sakhalinskaya Oblast’, Russia The original airfield was built in the early 20th century for the Imperial Japanese Army and was called Keton. It consisted of a 1200 m long concrete runway, gravel taxiways and about 20 equipped aircraft parking lots. ⠀After the Soviet Union regained control over Sakhalin inRead More →
The world’s most famous Mirage III, number 159 attained its 13th kill on the first day of the 1973 Israel/Egyptian Yom Kippur War. The following day while taking off, it blew a tire and veered off the runway, trapping its pilot Israel Baharav in the cockpit. Baharav managed to escapeRead More →
State-owned broadcast signal distribution company Sentech is in the market for autonomous drones to patrol South Africa’s borders. Sentech envisages a fleet of drones in a meshed network that co-ordinate with towers on the ground to spot illegal activity and alert operators. Ideally its drones will be capable of otherRead More →
In five rounds, an artificially-intelligent agent showed that it could outshoot a human. The never-ending saga of machines outperforming humans has a new chapter. An AI algorithm has again beaten a human fighter pilot in a virtual dogfight. The contest was the finale of the U.S. military’s Alpha Dogfight Challenge, anRead More →
