The South African Air Force’s miniscule airborne maritime capability has become even more miniscule, according to defence analyst Helmoed Römer Heitman.
This follows the tragic loss of the “Gooney Bird” C-47TP Turbo Dakota in the Drakensberg mountains in December, and the writing off (as a Category Five loss) of another C-47TP following a landing incident at Umtata airport in November.
Unofficial sources indicated there are now nine C-47s in the SAAF’s inventory. No official figures were available from the South African Air Force, despite repeated requests since mid-December, on the number of converted C-47 aircraft still in service at AFB Ysterplaat’s 35 Squadron. Five of these are configured for maritime patrol operations, two for transport, one as a transport/photographic platform and the remaining one set up for electronic warfare. According to the Squadron website it originally had 11 of the turbo power plant engined aircraft.
defenceweb
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