The maintenance situation of the South African Air Force (SAAF) fleet is woeful, and has been highlighted in a recent parliamentary Written Response by the Minister of Defence to a Question to a question posed by S J F Marais of the Democratic Alliance party.  Mr Marais is a member of both the Joint Standing Committee on Defence and the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans.  

The response from Minister Thandi Modise stated the following

Rooivalk – Fleet of 11

• 3 serviceable with restrictions
• 8 on major repair/rebuild
• Target of 6 serviceable out of 11 raises a funding requirement of 1 billion Rand (US$54.5M)
• Current maintenance contract with Denel expired September 2023

Oryx – Fleet of 41

• 2 beyond economic repair
• 5 serviceable
• 10 on major rebuild
• 2 on major rebuild following accident damage
• 22 grounded awaiting critical parts
• Funding requirement ZAR 2.5 billion (US$135.9M)

LUH109 – Fleet of 24

• 6 serviceable
• Maintenance contract in place effective 06 December 2022, expires 31 March 2025

Super Lynx 300 – Fleet of 4

• 1 serviceable
• 3 awaiting various parts, due June 2024
• Contract bid received 30 May 2023
• Planned contract start 20 October 2023

BK117 – Fleet of 8

• Contract expired 15 December 2022
• None serviceable (assumed, given no maintenance contract in place)
• Negotiations have concluded for new support contract to be placed by 30 September 2023
• Planned contract start 30 October 2023

Thus for the five helicopter types, 15 out of 88 helicopters are available to fly, 17% of the combined fleet

To give a more complete picture, here is a summary of the fixed wing fleet, where 10 of 60 are serviceable, again representing 17% of the total

• Beech King Air – none serviceable out of 4
• Cessna 208 – none serviceable out of 8 – avionics upgrade required
• Pilatus PC7 Mk.II – 6 serviceable out of 35 – proposed contract terms for renewal from April 2024 not acceptable to Pilatus
• Pilatus PC12 – sole aircraft currently on C-Check and engine replacement
• CASA 212 – fleet of 3 – one serviceable, two under repair
• Lockheed C130 -fleet of 5 – one serviceable, three awaiting spares, 1 on C-Check
• Boeing BBJ – sole aircraft is serviceable
• Falcon 50 – one serviceable, one under repair
• Falcon 900 – sole aircraft on C-Check

Conclusions stated by Minister of Defence, Thandi Modise at the foot of his response

• Aircraft unavailability implies that SAAF defence readiness is compromised
• Negative consequences means SAAF personnel will need to regain currency, and lack of aircraft poses a challenge
• The challenge is lack of funds to place contracts