Almost new Gripens for sale!! <3

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Member for

13 years 6 months

Posts: 2,120

Well perhaps with the money they got on selling those Gripen, they can used it to resurrect at least a sq of Cheetah. I know is a long shoot, and I don't know the conditions of Atlas as Aircraft facility presently, however with Cheetah badically being remanufactured in Atlas to begin with, perhaps overall operating Cheetah again still made SAF at least able to maintain 1 sq of fast jets operational.

What I'm getting at, the money from Gripen sale can be used to restructured SAF budget and by then SAF can still be operational as respectable AF (for sub sahara Africa at least).

Their problem is they can't afford the money to fly the Gripens (or anything else). This is money for maintenance, for fuel, for spares, money for maintaining associated buildings and infrastructure, money for housing of staff etc.

This is recurrent funding and something that selling Gripens won't fix.

Member for

15 years 5 months

Posts: 6,983

Hard call... they are roughly same weight, with Atlas Cheetah being powered by an upgraded turbojet from 1948,
Gripen being powered by an upgraded turbofan from 1978, airframe wise also differ some odd 30 years,
and given that Gripen was designed to be maintained mostly by conscripts,
and add to that that operational cost also keep going up with age,
i'd say Gripen is cheaper to operate.

By selling off the only contemporary inventory and spending that profit on upgrading 40 year old mothballed equipment
that cost more to use, there won't be neither money nor air force left.

If SA are that hard pressed financially, i would keep 12-18 Gripen and decommission and sell the rest,
-for scraps if need be, to end cost for storage/maintenance terminally.

Member for

15 years 2 months

Posts: 2,619

Hard call... they are roughly same weight, with Atlas Cheetah being powered by an upgraded turbojet from 1948,
Gripen being powered by an upgraded turbofan from 1978, airframe wise also differ some odd 30 years,
and given that Gripen was designed to be maintained mostly by conscripts,
and add to that that operational cost also keep going up with age,
i'd say Gripen is cheaper to operate.

Isn't that Snecma Atar a BMW engine practically ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Cheetah

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 4,202

It does not matter which plane they would try to operate, as they do not have (or want to spent) the budget needed to operate any fighter.

Member for

18 years 3 months

Posts: 5,267

Of course the South African government has no problem funding the VIP fleet! Those ANC politicians do like those helicopters ferrying them around! The truth is until South Africa has a competitive opposition party in the majority black population the ANC will carry on in its rather corrupt way.

Member for

19 years 9 months

Posts: 12,109

Weren't there just 3 pilots left in South Africa that were still in service and could fly the Gripen? Why does SA not consider Leasing them out. I am sure someone, would be willing to take a few gripens on lease, along with the pilots for DACT purposes...

Member for

13 years 3 months

Posts: 3,337

truly sad state of affairs for the SAAF..just how bad is their budget? And what has caused such a calamitous drop in what was regarded as a professional air force once?

Member for

18 years 9 months

Posts: 13,432

The first post-apartheid government rightly decided that South Africa was spending far more on its military than it needed to, because much of its spending was aimed at preventing what had just happened, i.e. the enfranchisement of the majority, & a lot was also aimed at fighting the Cold War. It therefore cut the budget. It also went overboard on spending on political correctness, & funding the social integration of former guerrillas, from within the military budget. It adopted a fairly sensible re-alignment of the forces, leading to the re-equipment of the navy & purchase of Gripen, Hawk, & the (later cancelled) A400M order. But the budget kept shrinking . . . . . & more & more of it was being diverted . . . . .

Makes you wandered if South Africa still entitled to be clasified as rising economic power as Brazil, Rusia, China, and India in BRICS. For me from beginning, inclusion of South Africa in BRICS already questionable. South Africa already bevome just another typical miss management African country. Rich in resources, clouded with extreme corrupts government and increasingly incompetent buerocracy.

S. Africa is a middle income country, richer per head than China (& much richer than India), & about the same as Brazil.

Member for

13 years 5 months

Posts: 506

S. Africa is a middle income country, richer per head than China (& much richer than India), & about the same as Brazil.

Ooo I don't doubt SA is rich country, and it's potential. However putting the 'present' SA with the same league with BRIC is what I said the joke. Present SA continue wasting their potential by continue missmanage policy, wasting their main resources (which is human) on some affirmative ANC politically motivated policy, etc, etc. I don't mind affirmative, but the one they do it in SA increasingly counterproductive.

With that situation in SA presently, how come they can be moving ahead at same pace as BRIC. After all the ides of BRIC is the next global economic power. Don't see present SA will be on that league soon.

Member for

18 years 3 months

Posts: 5,267

The first post-apartheid government rightly decided that South Africa was spending far more on its military than it needed to, because much of its spending was aimed at preventing what had just happened, i.e. the enfranchisement of the majority, & a lot was also aimed at fighting the Cold War. It therefore cut the budget. It also went overboard on spending on political correctness, & funding the social integration of former guerrillas, from within the military budget. It adopted a fairly sensible re-alignment of the forces, leading to the re-equipment of the navy & purchase of Gripen, Hawk, & the (later cancelled) A400M order. But the budget kept shrinking . . . . . & more & more of it was being diverted . . . . .

S. Africa is a middle income country, richer per head than China (& much richer than India), & about the same as Brazil.

Agreed.

Member for

15 years 2 months

Posts: 2,619

Well perhaps with the money they got on selling those Gripen, they can used it to resurrect at least a sq of Cheetah. I know is a long shoot, and I don't know the conditions of Atlas as Aircraft facility presently, however with Cheetah badically being remanufactured in Atlas to begin with, perhaps overall operating Cheetah again still made SAF at least able to maintain 1 sq of fast jets operational.

What I'm getting at, the money from Gripen sale can be used to restructured SAF budget and by then SAF can still be operational as respectable AF (for sub sahara Africa at least).

It may have to do with the Cheetah...their pride and joy; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKt7r7tREL4