The South African Air Force (SAAF) faces a R7.7 billion shortfall to fund aircraft support contracts over the next three years, with state defence materiel agency Armscor saying the SAAF maintenance budget should be two to three times what it currently stands at.
In a presentation to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) on 13 June, Armscor noted that support contracts have not been funded adequality for a prolonged period of time. The consequences of this is reduced fleet availability, essential upgrades being postponed, and higher maintenance cost due to supporting obsolete sub-systems.
Only the bare minimum maintenance is being done, meaning that a large recovery cost is required to “catch up” on maintenance. Although Armscor is only able to place bare minimum ‘on demand’ maintenance contracts, this does not guarantee aircraft availability.
On demand contracts are cheaper than availability contracts, but result in a slower turnaround time from manufacturers due to the ad hoc nature of the contract and a reactive approach to maintenance. Availability contracts are more expensive but provide guaranteed aircraft availability.
Armscor explained to the JSCD that maintenance contracts are in place for all SAAF aircraft types, but most of these are not fully funded. It gave a detailed breakdown of aircraft maintenance contracts. For the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ), contracts are with Jet Aviation (R26 million) and Dentec (R58 million) for maintenance and support, but these are underfunded to the tune of R414 million. Major four-yearly maintenance is due in October 2025.
“The BBJ is not fully funded as there is insufficient funds to conduct various refurbishments and upgrades in the aircraft e.g. cabin refurbishment. Funds are only utilised for the C-Check and normal day to day maintenance,” Armscor stated.
Regarding the three-strong Falcon fleet, Execujet has a R110 million contract (March 2023 to February 2026), but the full requirement is R252 million. C-Checks need to be carried on the Falcon 50 fleet in the 2025/26 financial year but no funds have been committed for the C-Check yet. “Not funding the Falcon fleet will result in the unavailability of aircraft for VVIP transport,” Armscor stated.
As for the transport fleet, Denel has a R161 million contract (R500 million required) for C-130BZ Hercules maintenance valid between January 2023 and December 2025. Two C-130BZs have been serviced but are not operational “due to items required under the Thales Umbrella support contract (The Thales support contract was placed late due to funding issues).”
Armscor warned that years of underfunding have reduced the serviceability of the fleet and impact the DoD’s ability to provide a transport capability e.g. transportation of troops and resources.
Marshall Aerospace in the United Kingdom, meanwhile, is executing a GBP19 million (R460 million) contract for the avionics upgrade and servicing of two C-130s. Funding was provided by National Treasury for this. Work on aircraft 409 is due to be completed by December. “The date moved from July 2025 due to significate unscheduled rectification work on the major service,” Armscor noted.
As for the C212s, Airbus has a support contract (August 2022 to August 2025) for the three-strong fleet, but only R47 million out of R70 million of this is funded. Armscor reports the contractor has been performing well, and all spares delivered within time. Two aircraft require ‘recovery’ after accidents, with one to be completed by July. Armscor noted that years of underfunding has reduced the serviceability of the fleet and impacts the DoD’s ability to provide a transport capability.
The King Air fleet faces a R67 million maintenance shortfall, with R27 out of R95 million being contracted for maintenance with Execujet (2023 to 2026). Two aircraft (650 and 652) have undergone scheduled maintenance, but 650 is being “investigated” due what Armscor terms an “incident” – in April, it lost a passenger door after takeoff from Lanseria.
None of the Cessna 208 Caravan fleet is available, as this faces a R72 million maintenance allocation shortfall (R17 million out of a required R90 million has been allocated to Absolute Aviation for maintenance between 2024 and 2027).
“This support contract was delayed twice, due to no valid bid conditions. For the second cancellation National Treasury approval had to be sought and obtained before the third and final RFB. The Third RFB was successful as it was awarded to local OEM accredited contractor,” Armscor stated. Maintenance work is split between Absolute Aviation and the SAAF. “The first of eight aircraft being recovered is planned to be serviceable by end of June 2025,” Armscor added. Caravans are, amongst others, used to train pilots for the C-130 and not having the type available means C-130 pilot training is limited.
The maintenance contract with Pilatus for the SAAF’s sole PC-12 (2023-2026) is mostly funded (R32 million funded out of a R50 million requirement), whereas the contract with the Swiss manufacturer for the PC-7 Mk II trainer fleet has a major shortfall (R320 million required versus R95 million allocated).
“Recovery of fleet to 25 aircraft impossible without funding because it is not possible to do LRU repairs or purchasing of spares,” Armscor stated. Additional funds are needed as the FTD (Flight Training Device) is becoming obsolete and is in urgent need to be upgraded. Armscor warned that if support for the PC-7 Mk II fleet is not forthcoming, the SAAF’s capability to train new pilots will stop “and this affects the whole air force.”
Rotary wing
The Rooivalk attack helicopter faces a R2 billion maintenance shortfall, with Denel Aeronautics awarded a R469 million support contract (2023-2025) out of a R2.5 billion requirement to keep the eleven-strong fleet airworthy. Armscor noted that obsolescence issues of various systems are critical and they severely impact the overall availability of platform.
Critical Thales Line Replaceable Units (LRUs) are still unavailable to complete aircraft servicing at Denel Aeronautics. These form 40% of the overall installed equipment on the platform. Another major issue is that the 15 year mandatory maintenance overhaul of the Makila engines and dynamic components is due, and “this is a great cost driver.” Armscor warned that without the Rooivalk, “the SAAF will not be in a position adequately support deployed troops.”
There are 36 Oryx helicopters in the SAAF’s fleet, but obsolescence issues of various systems severely impact the overall availability of platform. “Critical Thales Line Replaceable Units (LRUs) are still unavailable to complete aircraft servicing at Denel Aeronautics. These form 40% of the overall installed equipment on the platform,” Armscor stated. Like the Rooivalk, the Oryx fleet is approaching a costly 15 year mandatory maintenance overhaul of engines and dynamic components.
Not having serviceable Oryx helicopters “severely impacts” the SAAF’s ability to perform tasks such as troop transport and humanitarian assistance as well as search and rescue and firefighting.
Denel Aeronautics has a contract (January 2023 to December 2025) for Oryx maintenance, but this is only funded to the tune of R367 million out of a R2.45 billion requirement, Armscor stated.
Only a third of A109 Light Utility Helicopter maintenance is funded (R113 million out of R358 million required), with Leonardo South Africa responsible for support work between December 2022 and November 2025. “Funding shortage will result in no pilots being trained and various rescue missions not being performed,” Armscor said.
The seven-strong BK117 fleet faces an R81 million maintenance shortfall (R19 million funded) while the four Super Lynx helicopters face a R200 million shortfall (only R95 million funded). “Not funding the helicopter will affect the maritime operations to support the SA Air Force and SA Navy,” according to Armscor.
Combat fleet
Saab has a R476 million contract to support the 24-strong Gripen fleet (September 2022 to August 2025), with a R174 million shortfall. However, funding is only made available to make 13 aircraft airworthy and “delivered items allows SAAF to recover eight aircraft.”
As the current contract expires at the end of August, negotiations for a new contract were concluded and the new contract is estimated at SEK565 000 000 (R1 billion) to support 13 flying aircraft and address some of the historic backlog of repairable due to shortfalls in funding over the years. GKN Aerospace has a R145 million contract to support Gripen engines, with another R181 million required.
Regarding the Hawk Mk 120 Lead-In Fighter-Trainers, BAE Systems has a 2024 to 2026 contract for maintenance and support of 12 aircraft (out of 24 originally acquired) funded to the tune of R292 million, with R144 million outstanding.
“The recovery of the aircraft is progressive good, however the funding shortage will have a negative impact on the number of serviceable aircraft,” Armscor stated. “The contractor is performing well and deliveries are line with the contracted dates.”
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