The SAAF Forum

Hi guys
I came across this site and it is interesting to see what our northern neighbors think:

http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-415620.0.html

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There are a lot of very misinformed correspondents on that forum.

The fact of the matter is that it is difficult to quantify "strongest" in this case. Firstly no country in Africa has the ability to project force far enough for them to seriously threaten the military capability of any other reasonably proportioned and equipped country.

One cannot also translate numbers into strength because more often than not quality beats quantity (e.g. Six-Day War, Yom Kippur). On paper South Africa may not appear to have the strongest military but what it does have a is a professional defence force (i.e. a non-conscript army) and what I believe to still be a comparatively high level of training.

South Africa also has a reasonably well developed local arms industry and by far the most powerful economy on the continent which (over some time), would enable her to switch the economy to a war footing easier than the other states.

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1: Egypt
2: Algeria
3: Morocco
4: South Africa

There's a bit more more to it than counting barrels,tanks,guns and planes,etc.Modern warfare is a very complex undertaking,and imho,the guy most likely to win is one that get all the pieces to work the best,thats more/most likely to "win".

As pointed out, can that "force" be "projected"?Can you get your guys into the fight when/where it counts,and perhaps more importantly,can you sustain/keep them in the fight for as long as the job requires?After all that,can you get everything back to base when the fat lady sings?

Logistics is the most important,coveniently forgotten,very un-sexy barometer.........

I agree with you Curious George, many a battle has been lost to logistics or lack thereof. But it is an interesting debate and I often think how or what weapons does one need to fight a modern war? Also the fighter jocks of the future are going to be the Rooivalk boys and not necessarily the Gripen boys.
Mac

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I actual read h report by the some danish military academy, although it was about peacekeeping and the SADC stand by brigade they point out some points.


all though Nigeria has a larger army and there for can deploy a larger force, they do not have the support systems of the SANDF, they lake modern gear and can not actually move all there troops around.


South Africa on the other hand can deploy 3000 men small yes but they can deploy and then support that numberm, we all so have the best C4I2R ability in Africa meaning the SANDF can use there forces much more effectively.


All so we have the strongest econmy by far. and one of the most stabel nations in africa. Just look at egypt. They may have a good defense force but they are to busy trying to keep there own nation under control.

I have the Danish document somewhere in the mess known as the "My Documents" folder on my notebook. I'll look for it in the morning if anyone is interested. IIRC it's a Master's degree thesis.

Interested. Could be the one I was talking about but I never saved the one I was looked at.

Didn't you make it available somewhere, or emailed it to me or something? I have a copy on my home desktop if you can't find it

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Urmmmm a bit late I think, but ya I would be very interested in reading that article. If anyone can direct me to where I can find it or email it to me I would greatly appreciate it.

Send me your email address by PM, I'll send it to you.

thanks for sharing that balrit, pretty interesting
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Mike

A professional army is the way. Look at the Falklands ground war - conscript Argentinian soldiers up against the Royal Marines...never stood a chance.

I believe that the SANDF can force project better than most if not all countries in Africa at present - 3000 odd can be deployed rapidly and supported until a larger support force arrives.

While I think we would handle ourselves pretty well in a conflict and not wishing to raise the ire of anyone, my personal opinion is that I dont believe that today's SANDF personel are as well trained as in years gone by...understanding of course it was a different situation!

I think the SANDF has serious challenges of which chronic underfunding, a bloated corps of personnel not fit for fighting and a serious deterioration of the quality of training are some of the most prominent. See for instance viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4656 as well as the latest defence review.

There may be some islands of excellence like, hopefully, in the air force. But let's not be blinded by unsubstantiated optimism about the true state of affairs.

I think you'll find under-funding a ubiquitous problem. In addition to the concerns regarding the SANDF's training levels, the organisation's rank structure is far too top-heavy.



I don't think most people on this forum are and nobody is denying that the SANDF faces some serious problems However, looking around the rest of Africa, things could be a lot worse than they currently are.

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A plan is simply a basis for change.