Newscenter Media News The SA Air Force (SAAF) is, via Armscor, urgently looking for spare and replacement parts for four types in its fleet.
The aircraft types are, in order of the Armscor requests for information (RfIs), CASA 212 (RFI: ARO-2025-03-01); Saab Gripen (RFI: ARO-2025-03-02), Oryx (RFI: ARO-2025-03-03) and C-130BZ (RFI: ARO-2025-03-04). All were issued on 28 March with a 7 April closing date.
Armscor does not make known RfI or tender details to the media, so this publication went to Dean Wingrin, publisher of the Unofficial SAAF website who also has a wide-ranging knowledge of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF). His take on the four RfIs is “standard spare and replacement parts” for the four aircraft systems named.
“These are all urgent, most likely a result of the chronic underfunding experienced by the SAAF (and SANDF as a whole) over the past decade,” he told defenceWeb. “The SANDF suffered severe budget cuts over the past 15 years, leading to maintenance backlogs, depleted stock levels and an inability to carry out essential maintenance and mid-life upgrades.”
Turning specifically to the airborne service, under the command of Lieutenant General Wiseman Mbambo, he said: “The SAAF received a 3.9% budget increase this year to R17.7 billion, which remains below the inflation rate. As a result, even with this nominal increase, the SAAF will not be able to maintain spending parity in the current financial year to what it could buy last year. The net effect has resulted in the SAAF flying only 6 800 hours of its budgeted 12 000”.
On the timing of the RFIs he notes they “may have been issued on an urgent basis as April 1 is the start of the South African government financial year. In this way, newly released funds can be applied to keep the SAAF fleet in most urgent need of spare parts in the air as many aircraft have been grounded for lack of spare parts”.
SAAF aircraft availability is at critically low levels across all divisions. A recent assessment covering the six-month period from September 2024 to March 2025, which defenceWeb has seen, laid bare the extent to which underfunding, maintenance backlogs, and spare part shortages have compromised the force’s readiness.
The report stated there are currently 13 Gripen airframes available and serviceable, under a contract that expires in August 2025. The Hawk fleet is also under a service contract for 12 air frames, until 2029. A total of 26 Gripens and 24 Hawks were originally acquired. One Gripen has been written off and two Hawks damaged in accidents.
The Oryx fleet has suffered extensive maintenance delays, with availability ranging from zero to just 44 percent in the last six months, meaning only 4 out of 13 aircraft are operational, while the fleet consists of 37 total airframes, after two were written off after crashing. Many remain grounded due to overdue servicing or a lack of spare parts.
Externally deployed aircraft, particularly Oryx helicopters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), are suffering from major spare part shortages. Only 33 percent of the deployed fleet is currently operational, with just 1 out of 3 helicopters available, significantly impacting South Africa’s peacekeeping commitments. Two Oryx were flown to Entebbe, Uganda, for servicing. A further two Oryx were recently flown to Entebbe to cover for the two DRC examples undergoing servicing. A fifth Oryx (1247) is currently stuck at Goma Airport, having been hit by rebel ground fire while en route to Goma airport on 2 February 2024.
Of the SAAF’s three C212 light transport aircraft, two aircraft require recovery after incidents. One suffered a runway excursion during Exercise Vuk’uhlome in November 2023. Airbus has been contracted to carry out maintenance from August 2022 to end July 2025. The contractor has been performing well to date, and all spares and repairs have been delivered within communicated time lines. However, Armscor last year revealed that C212 maintenance was underfunded (R43 million funded out of R70 million required).
The C-130 Hercules, essential for strategic and tactical airlift and humanitarian operations, is entirely unavailable, with none out of six aircraft operational, exacerbating logistical difficulties. C-130 tail number 401, the oldest of the fleet, originally acquired in 1963, has undertaken several test flights from Waterkloof Air Force Base throughout March, but is not fully operational. Another C-130 is with Marshall Aerospace in the UK for upgrades and maintenance.
For more on SAAF aircraft serviceability, click here.
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