DEFENCE DARREN OLIVIER
Last month’s column outlined the ridiculously poor air support that the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) has been provided with, consisting most of the time just two South African Air Force (SAAF) Oryx helicopters, a single SAAF Caravan with an observation turret, and whatever helicopters the armed forces of Mozambique (FADM) are able to provide.
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HIS IS FAR FROM SUFFICIENT considering the type of terrain in that part of Northern Mozambique, which is inhospitable to cross-country vehicle use, and the highly mobile nature of the insurgency. It’s a type of combat that is best suited to air assault forces, able to move rapidly around the huge operational area, and cut off insurgents from escape during raids with Fire Force-style tactics.
airlifting a single platoon requires two Oryx helicopters
This month is all about what level of air support, in particular from helicopters, should be expected for a deployment of this size according to both South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and
32 FlightCom: March 2022
global doctrine. This is especially important as from this month the SANDF contribution to SAMIM is expanding with the inclusion of an additional infantry battalion and other support units which will push the SANDF proportion to at least 1 000 soldiers and likely bring the overall SAMIM force to nearer the originally-planned brigade size. First, let’s look at the problem of moving ground forces using helicopters, which swiftly runs into the limitation that helicopters are relatively small and not able to carry that many soldiers or that much equipment.
A standard SANDF infantry platoon consists of at least 32 soldiers, with the following structure:
