South African National Defence Force

[Gatling]

Great pics , good discussion , good on you South Africans.

[Nordwind]

Great pics , good discussion , good on you South Africans.

Thanks man! Could anybody identify this chopper? It kinda looks like an Indian ALH but I'm not sure if it is. Thanks in advance.

[BeetleCrusher]

Thanks man! Could anybody identify this chopper? It kinda looks like an Indian ALH but I'm not sure if it is. Thanks in advance.

BK117, ex BOP defence force chopper, primarily built by Kawazaki. Made famous by the rescue of victims of the Mozambique floods a few years ago. From 15 Sqdn Durban.

[Wamba]

Hey guys is the "32 Battalion" still active and what happend to the KOVOET? I was with these guys in the border (Ovamboland) back in the mid 80's.
Haven't heard anything from them in many years.

[Nordwind]

BK117, ex BOP defence force chopper, primarily built by Kawazaki. Made famous by the rescue of victims of the Mozambique floods a few years ago. From 15 Sqdn Durban.

Thanks alot!

Hey guys is the "32 Battalion" still active and what happend to the KOVOET? I was with these guys in the border (Ovamboland) back in the mid 80's.
Haven't heard anything from them in many years.

Koevoet was disbanded in 89 I believe and the 32 Battalion was disbanded in 93.

[BeetleCrusher]

Thanks alot!


Koevoet was disbanded in 89 I believe and the 32 Battalion was disbanded in 93.

For more info on 32 go to;

http://www.32battalion.net/

as well as a cool dedication site run by somone I have seen here. No names no packdrill.

http://flecha.co.uk/

[playtym]

I agree with you. They've got one of those Olifant ARVs at the War Museum here in Joburg.

Here is the vehicle from the Military Museum in Jhb to which you refer.












And another from the Armour Museum in Pta.





I definately agree that that is the vehicle on the transporter.


If you look at the caption on the page from where the original photo came you'll see that it's listed as an "ARV in disguise."

http://uk.geocities.com/sasolboy/abens30.html


I found this when I Googled "SPAAM"

dataspace Forum -> Laat dit Rym! Post # 45. ~ R ! D1 ~ Who else ? Group : Members Posts : 1271 Joined : 10 - March 05 From : Slaap Stad Member No . : 21. Spaam ( afringlish for spam ) 8O ...
dataspace.co.za/forum/index.php?showtopic=70& mode=linear&view=findpost&p=2070 - 99k - Supplemental Result -


I recon somebody's born the brunt of a little deception here! For whatever reason this ARV was done up to look like a SAM system.

The Ystervark (20mm cannon on a Samil 20 chassis) was the only mobile air defence weapon that we ever operated with.

[baboon6]

Those two vehicles are not the same. One (the first) is an engineer vehicle based on a Centurion, the other an ARV based on Comet. Note the first vehicle has six roadwheels on each side while the second one has five.

[Wamba]

For more info on 32 go to;

http://www.32battalion.net/

as well as a cool dedication site run by somone I have seen here. No names no packdrill.

http://flecha.co.uk/

Thanks for the info and the pics guys. They were awesome people and Great Fighters. Much Respect.

[BeetleCrusher]

And another from the Armour Museum in Pta.

Ahem... Bloemfontein... not Pretoria.
Nice pics of the Ystervark by the way, one can clearly see the V hull.

[playtym]

Gees guys, I'm pretty embarrassed about this one.

Yes Beetlecrusher, you're right - it is in Bloemfontein. My bad. I should have been asleep about 2 hours before I posted those pics - maybe I was!?!. Thanks for the correction.

Thanks for the info Baboon6. I didn't even know they were based on a different chassis, I just assumed they were the same. Now that you point it out I clearly see the difference between the two. We worked with Olifants, which probably had some of these in tow, I didn't see any though before I went to those two museums. I mostly know about Infantry equipment. I just like to take photos of tanks, planes etc. but as you can see that doesn't make me an expert.

Do you think I'm right about the original picture of the disguised ARV though?

[baboon6]

Gees guys, I'm pretty embarrassed about this one.

Yes Beetlecrusher, you're right - it is in Bloemfontein. My bad. I should have been asleep about 2 hours before I posted those pics - maybe I was!?!. Thanks for the correction.

Thanks for the info Baboon6. I didn't even know they were based on a different chassis, I just assumed they were the same. Now that you point it out I clearly see the difference between the two. We worked with Olifants, which probably had some of these in tow, I didn't see any though before I went to those two museums. I mostly know about Infantry equipment. I just like to take photos of tanks, planes etc. but as you can see that doesn't make me an expert.

Do you think I'm right about the original picture of the disguised ARV though?

Yes I do, probably an attempt to convince the Cubans/FAPLA we had some kind of AA missile capability in the forward areas. Great photos, please post more. I'm about to get a digital camera (was meant to get it last week actually), can't wait to get a chance to use it at the war museum.

[playtym]

Here you go Baboon6. These were taken with my old 2.1 mega-pixel Fuji Finepix. I've just bought an 8 mega-pixel Sony Cybershot, but haven't had the chance to take any pics yet.

These were all taken at the Armour Museum in Bloemfontein.

What's this thing called Baboon6? Just "an ARV" or does it have a proper name?


Eland 60 with mortar removed.


Eland 90

[playtym]

Rooikat

[baboon6]

Playtym, I've never seen that vehicle referred to as anything but a "Comet armoured repair vehicle". How many were converted I don't know; there are still a few examples of Comet tanks in SA, the Military Museum has one.

Nice 1SSB badge on that Rooikat.