New hardware is slowly making its way into the hands of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), with a modified six-wheeled Land Cruiser, new assault rifles and machineguns amongst the equipment seen for the first time at the SA Army’s biggest annual exercise this month.
Exercise Vuk’uhlome III was held at the SA Army’s Combat Training Centre in the Northern Cape and culminated in a Distinguished Visitors’ Day on 21 November. Although dominated by Ratel infantry fighting vehicles, R4 assault rifles and other equipment that has been in service for decades, the SANDF did reveal some new acquisitions, primarily for the Special Forces.
These included CZ Bren 2 assault rifles, chambered in both 5.56 NATO and 7.62×39 mm. These were seen carried by Special Forces members, while Kord 12.7 mm heavy machineguns were seen mounted on some of the Special Forces’ Hornet vehicles – others were seen with the more traditional 12.7 mm Browning machineguns.
Not for the first time were modified 4×4 Toyota Land Cruisers seen, fitted with armoured cabs and 23 mm cannons on the back. These were supplied by SVI Engineering, which also provided armoured Land Cruisers fitted with Scorpion automated mortars for the Special Forces.
The SANDF in early 2024 acquired half a dozen MAX 3 armoured vehicles from SVI to help combat border crimes during Operation Corona deployments. Two are 4×4 and four are six-wheeled MAX 3s, fitted with rear cargo cabins on the loadbed. These were not seen at Vuk’uhlome 2024, but a six-wheeled Land Cruiser was spotted during the exercise, fitted with a modified loadbed carrying a 23 mm cannon and machinegun turret.
Earlier this year Armscor issued a tender for the development of modified 6×6 Land Cruiser vehicles for the South African Special Forces to enhance their firepower during operational deployments but it’s not clear if the vehicle at Exercise Vuk’uhlome 2024 was one of these.
Much of the defence budget (65%) is going towards the compensation of employees, but some funds are being allocated for equipment maintenance and new acquisitions. To safeguard the integrity of South Africa’s borders, the department of defence will continue to prioritise the acquisition of vehicles and technology that will serve as a force multiplier.
National Treasury has allocated nearly R1 billion to improve SANDF border security capabilities over the next three years. R200 million worth of sensor technology will be acquired for the border safeguarding Operation Corona in 2025/6 including a geographic information system (GIS) capability (R22.5 million); intelligence collection and processing capabilities (R47 million under Project Baobab); upgraded Chaka command and control system (R7.2 million); Reutech RSR 903 radars (R57 million); 60 observation posts (R16 million under Project Dominate); 16 quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicles (R16 million) and two long range UAVs (R24 million).
Troop pack vehicles (over 400 Land Cruisers were originally acquired) will be replaced with off-the-shelf vehicles and R500 million will be spent in 2024/25 for this. Armscor in July issued an invitation to bid for nearly 500 armoured vehicles for border patrol: 210 Section variants, 144 Command variants, and 108 Ambulance variants. Deliveries are expected before 15 March 2025, although industry has expressed concern that this deadline is unfeasible.
