Use of SANDF aircraft for transport

uhuruguru said:

Who cares ? Somewhere some car salesman is loving it. And he's blowing it and making someone else happy who is your potential customer. How kind of the government to take our tax and give it back to effeciently.

Ever thought of it that way ? You should.

Click to expand...

uhuruguru said:

Here's a translation. Money spent is not money gone. Once spent money still has value.

Click to expand...

uhuruguru said:

Here's a translation. Money spent is not money gone. Once spent money still has value.

Click to expand...

phaktza said:

I've noticed almost every day at least two SANDF helicopters arriving at the King's House in Durban, from the direction of King Shaka airport - a 20 minute drive. Is this necessary, how much more do these choppers cost than a cavalcade; after all millions of our tax money has been spent on the expensive vehicles which now sit unused!

Pure laziness, pure greed or pure megalomania?

Click to expand...

genetic said:

How do you know it's been used for transport?

We have SANDF choppers flying daily here in Cape Town from Ysterplaat - You do know they they also do training on an ongoing basis?

Click to expand...

phaktza said:

I've noticed almost every day at least two SANDF helicopters arriving at the King's House in Durban, from the direction of King Shaka airport - a 20 minute drive. Is this necessary, how much more do these choppers cost than a cavalcade; after all millions of our tax money has been spent on the expensive vehicles which now sit unused!

Pure laziness, pure greed or pure megalomania?

Click to expand...

DCS said:

You must be talking about the oryx. My girlfriend's dad actually works for the squadron that flies these out of the old durban airport - they cost in the region of R40000 to keep these things in the air - per hour. Crazy, but that is the total cost that includes everything such as fuel, paying for the ground crew, pilots, servicing etc...

I have been lucky enough to go on a few flips and is really awesome, though It actually pisses me off hearing how often JZ and company use these aircraft to go party it up all over rural KZN.

Click to expand...

phaktza said:

Is this necessary, how much more do these choppers cost than a cavalcade; after all millions of our tax money has been spent on the expensive vehicles which now sit unused!

Pure laziness, pure greed or pure megalomania?

Click to expand...

Palimino said:

That’s nothing. A real waste of taxpayer money was the dumbo arms deal involving maintenance intensive, expensive killing machines, flown by single, highly-skilled, air-conditioned systems experts (not AA appointees) firing ammunition costing R1000’s. Not to mention the skills required to maintain them (which we don’t have). There must not have been sufficient gravy in buying Hercules C130-type, unarmed transport aircraft. These aircraft have multiple uses and have the potential to be useful as they are rough-field transport aircraft so can transport peacekeeping troops, food aid, medicine, refugees etc. There is more chance of AA pilots flying them. If they had gone for the transport option, critics would have been muted as a strong case can be made for the C130 type aircraft’s deployment in Africa. If our defence capability required refurbishment, the SA mods. to the French Mirage fighter jets (Cheetah) and existing helicopter tech. (Rooivalk) would have deterred any potential enemies (and would have given any country a hard time). Of course, the Rooivalk would have been unsuitable for ferrying Zuma’s fat ass around. Maintenance and flying skills for the Mirage and Rooivalk already existed. Even the criminal thievery is dumb.

Click to expand...

BacchusZA said:

Those aircraft need to fly as an airframe only has a certain lifespan regardless of whether it sits in a hanger, or flies every day. The pilots need to get their hours to remain competent and current to fly, and the President uses military aircraft for security reasons.
Given an election is coming up and all the politicos are out campaigning, you can expect to see them flying around quite a bit for the next while.

Click to expand...

phaktza said:

R40000 versus a tank of petrol and a driver? Ja, SANDF is only supposed to be used in extreme circumstances not just day to day travel.

And yes, that's one of those bad boys. Usually flanked by two smaller helicopters.

Click to expand...

DCS said:

Absolute craziness is what it is! To be fair every time one of these things lift off the ground they would be doing training or practicing something, so not a total waste as they have a certain amount of time they need to spend in the air to stay current.

Click to expand...

phaktza said:

Pehaps so, but it does point to a bigger problem of unnecessary overspending on military aircraft.

Click to expand...

phaktza said:

It's an unnecessary cost. If he were flying into a crowded area, or such, then it would be understandable. But to fly from the airport to his house in the evening is hardly justifiable.

And if we aren't using the aircraft then why did we purchase them in the first place? Another unnecessary expense!

Click to expand...

DCS said:

To be honest a country needs these military aircraft and lots of them - imagine a tsunami coming over durban and you stuck on your rooftop, would you still think they overspent? thats if they are not too busy flying JZ to visit wife number 7...

Click to expand...

BacchusZA said:

It's been a while since I was involved in the PMT side of things, so I don't know how things have changed with the main airport having moved. Previously though the choppers were only very rarely used to transport from King's House to the airport or anywhere within reasonable distance of Durban, unless there was a problem on the route - it's quicker and cheaper to drive otherwise. The choppers collect the President or DP from King's House and from there go to whatever venue they're visiting, say PMB, Nkandla, or Ladysmith.

And in terms of why do we have all this expensive military equipment? Ask the people on that cruise liner that the 15 Sqdrn guys rescued how much of a wasted expense they are. Ask the people we rescued from the floods in Mozambique, or the guys from the burning apartment block last year, or the hikers they pulled out of the Berg this past weekend.
A military is a multi-purpose tool, it's not just used for fighting wars. It also pumps a lot of money into the economy - 60% of our budget is salaries, and that goes straight back into the economy, never mind all the money we spend on services which we are not allowed to do ourselves. And frankly, you are paying peanuts for the Defence Force, 1.3c of every rand of tax you pay. We are so underfunded it's a joke. Think of it like an insurance policy - you hate having to spend the money on it every month, but you're well up **** creek without a paddle if you don't have it the day somebody steals or smashes your car.

Click to expand...

phaktza said:

The submarines? R800 million on two transport aircraft? Well at least I'll be rescued in style. So it seems all we need a three choppers and a minister, or ground forces to stop service delivery protests (mind you soldiers can protest too, so maybe it's better we get rid of them all together?).

Click to expand...