Optronics Africa CC

20/05/2025

13/10/2021

https://youtu.be/Z3kYa9vCdNE

For almost five years, Postcode Meerkat – the most advanced wide-area surveillance system ever developed for counter-poaching purposes on the African contine...

06/07/2021

France is arming its MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with Paveway guided bombs for Operation Barkhane operations in Africa.

05/05/2021

The Ultimate Heliport in the Waterfall precinct in Midrand was shut down for an hour on Monday after drones were observed flying in the helicopter flight path.

On 3 May shortly after 08:00, an Ultimate Heliport employee reported seeing two drones operating directly in the helicopter flight path of Ultimate Heliport while driving in to work, Ultimate Heli said. Due to the risk of collision with helicopters and a possible fatal collision between a helicopter and one of the drones, Ultimate Heliport immediately suspended all flights until such time that security officers were able to investigate and the airspace was clear of drone activity.

The heliport was closed for an hour and caused disruptions to Gauteng emergency helicopter services that operate from Ultimate Heliport.

Air Ambulance operators Netcare 911 and HALO Aviation, who provide critical support to the community for fatal car accidents, hospital transfers and emergency medical care as well as surveillance operators such as Bidvest Protea Coin, Netstar and SBV, were all forced to ground their flights, according to Ultimate Heli.

Upon further investigation it was established that Hilti South Africa were operating these two drones over their offices 550 meters away from the heliport. The incident has been reported to the South African Civil Aviation Authority for further investigation.

This is not the first time drones have caused issues in South African airspace – they have disrupted air traffic on a number of occasions and in October 2020, a suspected drone may have been involved in a collision with a light aircraft at Rand Airport.

“It needs to be highlighted however, that airborne drones do pose a substantial risk to manned aircraft,” the Commercial Unmanned Aircraft Association of Southern Africa (CUAASA) said at the time. “A drone ingested into an engine could cause a catastrophic accident. It is therefore important to remind drone owners to follow the regulations and specifically not to fly their drone near aerodromes.”

03/05/2021

https://www.defenceweb.co.za/aerospace/aerospace-aerospace/mbambo-is-fifth-saaf-chief-since-1994/

When he takes up the post of SA Air Force (SAAF) Chief on 1 June, Lieutenant General Wiseman Mbambo becomes the fifth commander of the airborne service of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) since its establishment on 27 April 1994. In what is, in some circles, seen as a break with tradition Mbamb...

18/03/2021

Our sincere condolences to family and friend of Maj. Genl. Desmond "Bishop" Barker, SM, MM, MSETP, FRAeS (SAAF, Rtd) then Officer Commanding of TFDC.

“He served as Chief Test Pilot (1990-1995) and then Officer Commanding (1996-2000) of the SAAF Test Flight and Development Centre.

“Major General Barker qualified as a pilot in 1969, a maintenance test pilot in 1974 and an experimental test pilot in 1984.

“He was appointed Air Attaché to the United Kingdom in 2000 and Base Commander AFB Makhado in 2004. He retired in 2008 as Chief of Air Staff Operations and became the Manager Aeronautics Research at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) from which he retired in 2017”.

26/11/2020

The AMD office in collaboration with the members of Directorate Arms Control (DCAC) will be hosting a SADI – DCAC workshop on 04 December 2020. The venue for this workshop will be Denel Land Systems, Lyttelton, map attached for ease of reference.

In order for the AMD office to start planning the workshop, it would be appreciated if you could indicate whether you would be interested to attend this. Please also note that this will not be a virtual meeting but a face-to-face meeting. All the necessary COVID-19 precautions will be taken into consideration.

Your kind feedback by completing the attached reply sheet will be appreciated on or before closing of business Friday 27 November 2020.

01/11/2020

https://go.updates.iata.org/iatamanuals?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Carousel&utm_campaign=APCS-Publications&utm_content=Prospection&fbclid=IwAR0k8k9gA59sNOOOHNqd48I2M3bGDi-CT66M4kcNCkuzBhH9XbsLFguiboQ

IATA offers the air transport industry a comprehensive suite of products on a multitude of topics. Ranging from regulations and standards to guidance material, these manuals are designed to promote safety and optimize efficient operations.

20/07/2020

Please note the IDD (ICG)-TIPS Seminar on Economic Trends that will be hosted on 21 July 2020, from 10:00 – 12:00 via Zoom.

Your attendance confirmations may be e-mailed to Rozale Sewduth copied in this e-mail on [email protected].

Thank You

Chantel Martin
Executive Assistant
Office of the Acting Deputy Director General: Industrial Competitiveness & Growth
Thandi Phele
E-mail: [email protected]
Office Number: +27 12 394 1365
Mobile Number: +27 66 301 2056

17/07/2020

Good afternoon SADI members

Please note the AMD office was informed a few minutes ago by Mr Mashaba from DCAC that the whole of the Armscor building, including the Department of Defence, will be shut down for the whole of next week due to COVID-19.

26/05/2020

DCAC RE-OPENING AND RELATED RULES

26/04/2020

All comments to reach the dti on Monday 27 April 2020 by 12h00. Kindly copy the AMD office when submitting your comments to the dti.