Africa Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Nov 22, 2017
... so just to finish here:
Zimbabwe’s President Mugabe resigns after 37 years
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actually not yet, since it's the SDF here:
Beijing Bids Goodbye to Robert Mugabe
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As the line of Chinese-made armored vehicles rumbled into Harare last month, Zimbabwe’s 93-year-old dictator, Robert Mugabe, must have wondered what happened to the “all-weather friendship” Beijing always said they shared. For nearly four decades, Mugabe had been one of China’s staunchest allies. His “Look East” policy signaled Africa’s economic shift away from the West toward the rising superpower. Yet as the bloodless coup against him unfolded, Beijing offered no words of support or sympathy. Instead, there was silence — until afterward, when President Xi Jinping of China rushed to congratulate Mugabe’s successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The circumstances surrounding the end of Mugabe’s 37-year reign are the stuff of spy novels: a high-level meeting in Beijing four days earlier, the armed showdown at Harare airport, the old dictator’s last-ditch attempt to assert his authority. But the episode also tells a tale of China’s evolving relationship with the world it is shaping through loans, trade and investments. In an era when the United States seems to be on the retreat — notice the absence of Americans from this story — it can be easy to shrug off China’s advance as another instance of its rapid, ineluctable expansion. But the fall of Mugabe, a charismatic despot who drove his economy to ruin, shows how Beijing is learning to navigate, very carefully, through turbulent transitions in places where it has deep economic ties, sometimes decades old, and how countries bend to the arc of China’s gravity.

Mugabe is among the last of a dying breed, a revolutionary hero whose relationship with China was forged in Africa’s anticolonial struggle and shifted over time into an economic and diplomatic partnership. When the West issued sanctions against Mugabe’s government in the early 2000s for a multitude of sins — human rights abuses, violent farm invasions, electoral fraud — China defended its ally and poured money into Zimbabwe’s diamond mines and tobacco farms. It supplied weapons and fighter jets, roads and electricity plants. At a packed rally in the Chinese-built national stadium in Harare, Mugabe exulted: “We have turned East, where the sun rises, and given our backs to the West, where the sun sets.”

It seemed that the sun would never set on Mugabe, even as he exploited his citizens and presided over the economy’s destruction. In 2009, after a bout of hyperinflation so bad that the government printed $100 trillion notes that couldn’t even pay for a loaf of bread, Zimbabwe abandoned its currency and adopted the U.S. dollar as the principal means of exchange. Even so, in 2015, President Xi made a state visit to Zimbabwe, lavishing praise on Mugabe and pledging $4 billion in energy projects. Reciprocating the good will, Mugabe made a move that would flatter Beijing’s global ambition: Zimbabwe announced that it would become the first foreign country to accept the Chinese yuan as an official currency.

Behind the scenes, though, Beijing was growing alarmed. Mugabe’s disastrous handling of the economy had gone on for years, leaving more than 60 percent of the population below the poverty line — and government debts to China unpaid. But what provoked Beijing’s ire in early 2016 was a decision to enforce an “indigenization” law that required foreign ventures to reserve at least 51 percent of their ownership for local Zimbabweans. The law was meant to promote black empowerment, as well as Mugabe’s popularity. But China felt the law unfairly targeted its investments, including two diamond mines, whose assets were to be absorbed into a state-owned company. So angered were Chinese leaders that they summoned Zimbabwe’s foreign minister to Beijing to hear their grievances.

For China, there loomed a bigger danger and opportunity: the long-awaited political transition. As the nonagenarian Mugabe approached the end of his term in 2018, China feared chaos. But after decades of waiting, it hoped to push a freer investment climate that would open up Zimbabwe’s abundant mineral resources. As a one-party state, China has preferred to deal with ruling parties and their often-authoritarian leaders — and to hope that these old friends never pass from the scene, like the Communist Party itself. The “wake-up call,” says Yun Sun, a senior associate at the Stimson Center in Washington, came in Libya with the fall of the dictator Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011. China was heavily invested in Libya — it imported 10 percent of the country’s oil supply — but blindsided by the revolt against its ally. During the turmoil, more than 30,000 Chinese workers had to be airlifted out of Libya, and China lost billions of dollars’ worth of investments and loans.

Elsewhere, China’s sheer size could pull wayward countries back into its orbit. In Zambia, the poor treatment of workers at Chinese-run copper mines provoked a national outcry. The populist Michael Sata ran for the presidency in 2006 on an anti-Chinese platform, vowing to prevent Zambia from becoming a “dumping ground” for Chinese workers. His defeat led to the first anti-Chinese riots in Africa. Five years later, Sata again whipped up anger at Chinese “profiteers” and won the presidency easily. Once in office, however, the old firebrand mellowed. He was soon a compliant partner with Beijing — a sign, perhaps, that China’s influence on the Zambian economy had become so vital that fighting against it would be too costly.

The situation was different in Zimbabwe, where the uncertainty over succession spawned two sides vying for China’s favor. Mugabe’s heir apparent was Vice President Mnangagwa, a former security chief who trained as a guerrilla in China in the 1960s and earned the nickname “Crocodile.” Mugabe, however, wanted to hand the reins over to his 52-year-old wife, Grace, who studied in China. Last month, when Mnangagwa threatened to stop her, Mugabe fired him. As the Crocodile went into hiding, Zimbabwe’s army chief, his ally, flew to Beijing for an official visit with top military leaders. Barely four days after he returned to Zimbabwe, the coup was underway.

Suspicions about Beijing’s role in the takeover were only magnified when, in his first week in office, Mnangagwa relaxed the “indigenization” law — and signed a $153 million loan agreement with China. Beijing, citing its official policy of noninterference, vehemently denies any involvement in the coup. And indeed, such subterfuge seems more in line with past actions of the United States, which secretly helped topple governments from Iran to Chile during the 20th century. But even if Chinese officials told Zimbabwe’s army chief in Beijing they merely hoped for a more stable investment environment, this could still be regarded as the first coup d’état carried out with the tacit approval of the 21st century’s emerging superpower.

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continuation of the NYT article:
China may be new to coups, but it’s one of the oldest players in the global money game. In the past few years, two separate teams of scientists have found medieval Chinese coins along Kenya’s ocean coast. These tiny discs essentially rewrite the history of global trade, showing that Chinese traders reached Africa in the early 15th century, nearly a century before the first European explorers. This is not just a matter of pride. As China now moves to expand its influence in Africa, its state-owned media outlets have seized on these discoveries as proof of China’s historical links to the continent — and as the perfect rationale for its return.

The coins themselves were symbols of monetary might. First introduced in the 3rd century B.C. by China’s first emperor, the uniform copper coin served as an instrument for China’s unification and later its expanding power. The round coins had square holes so they could be strung into belts of a thousand. The belts got so heavy that Chinese merchants in the 9th century began depositing them in one place in return for a paper receipt. They called it fei qian, or “flying money.” When Marco Polo returned from his travels to China in the 13th century, his tales of paper money were met with disbelief. Europe would not have anything similar until the late 1600s.

When Mugabe promised to make the Chinese yuan an official currency, it was mostly a symbolic gesture. There, as in many of the world’s poorest countries, the U.S. dollar reigns supreme, despite almost no American presence. But Chinese economic power is starting to challenge that status. Beijing’s push to internationalize the yuan is motivated by more than vanity. A yuan that circulates more widely would spur Chinese trade, reduce its dependence on dollar holdings and enhance its geopolitical influence. The yuan is hampered by restrictions on its trade on foreign-exchange markets; Beijing fears that full convertibility would trigger capital flight. Even so, the yuan’s rise is beginning ever so slightly to nudge the system of global currencies away from the U.S. dollar. Last year, the International Monetary Fund added the yuan to its basket of reserve currencies. According to the Bank of China, as of last year, more than two dozen countries were accepting the yuan as a reserve currency, including six in Africa.

The American economy surpassed the British economy in size in 1872, but it took the dollar another 73 years to displace the British pound, at the end of World War II. Over the past decades, there have been other contenders and pretenders: the yen, the mark, the euro. But given its rapid rise — and its acceptance in distant parts of Africa — the yuan might be in the best position to catch the dollar. It may take decades, even centuries. But China, it should be clear by now, is in it for the very long haul.
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Brigadier
FOURTH DAMEN 3307 PATROL VESSEL DELIVERED TO HOMELAND INTEGRATED OFFSHORE SERVICES

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Homeland Integrated Offshore Services Ltd (Homeland) of Lagos, Nigeria, has taken delivery of another Damen 3307 Patrol Vessel for operations in the offshore oil fields in the Gulf of Guinea. This takes the total delivered vessels/Guardians since the first arrived in early 2014 to four. Guardian 4 has joined its three sister ships in providing security services to the oil majors active in Nigeria’s territorial waters, together with additional support services including crew transfers and equipment deliveries.

Homeland is one of the few Government-approved, private maritime security companies operating in Nigeria with a valid MOU with the Nigerian Navy, and the arrival of the fourth Guardian adds significantly to its ability to meet its goal of providing turnkey security services that include deterrence of and intervention in piracy attacks, so as to make the offshore environment safer for the benefit of all legitimate stakeholders.

The Damen 3307 Patrol Vessel is a variant on Damen’s best-selling Fast Crew Supplier 3307. It applies all the benefits of the basic FCS 3307 design; a top speed of 30 knots, rapid acceleration and excellent seakeeping, and adds a range of special refinements including an armoured wheelhouse and internal safe haven and is intended to carry up to 16 military personnel and their equipment. Additional equipment specified by Homeland includes a Fast Rescue Craft, FuelTrax electronic fuel monitoring system and a self-cleaning fuel separator. 15 seats for crew transfers have also been fitted.

Homeland was founded in 2006 to support international oil companies working in Nigeria’s offshore oil and gas fields by providing a wide range of services both at sea and on shore. 11 years later, it now operates a sizeable fleet that includes fast supply intervention vessels, platform support vessels, anchor handling tug supply ships, security and patrol vessels, and tugs. Led by managing director Louis Ekere, the company works with many of the international oil companies (IOCs) operating actively in the region.

For more information regarding Homeland Integrated Offshore Services Ltd and the services that it offers, write to the company at Block 101, Plot 31 Providence Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, Nigeria, telephone +234 1 632 5764 or email [email protected]. Or visit
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.



Damen Shipyards Group
Damen Shipyards Group operates 33 shipbuilding and repair yards, employing 9,000 people worldwide. Damen has delivered more than 6,000 vessels in more than 100 countries and delivers some 180 vessels annually to customers worldwide. Based on its unique, standardised ship-design concept Damen is able to guarantee consistent quality.

Damen’s focus on standardisation, modular construction and keeping vessels in stock leads to short delivery times, low ‘total cost of ownership’, high resale values and reliable performance. Furthermore, Damen vessels are based on thorough R&D and proven technology.

Damen offers a wide range of products, including tugs, workboats, naval and patrol vessels, high speed craft, cargo vessels, dredgers, vessels for the offshore industry, ferries, pontoons and superyachts.

For nearly all vessel types Damen offers a broad range of services, including maintenance, spare parts delivery, training and the transfer of (shipbuilding) know-how. Damen also offers a variety of marine components, such as nozzles, rudders, anchors, anchor chains and steel works.

Damen Shiprepair & Conversion (DSC) has a worldwide network of sixteen repair and conversion yards of which twelve are located in North West Europe. Facilities at the yards include more than 50 drydocks; conventional, floating and covered, the largest of which is 420 x 90 metres, as well as slopes, ship lifts and indoor halls. Projects range from the smallest simple repairs through Class’ maintenance to complex refits and the complete conversion of large offshore structures. DSC completes around 1,350 repair and maintenance jobs annually, both at the yards as well as in ports and while vessels are at sea.

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PARAMOUNT GROUP’S AHRLAC/MWARI NEARING SERIAL PRODUCTION

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The private South African conglomerate Paramount Group has announced that its production factory for the AHRLAC (Advanced High Performance and Reconnaissance Light Aircraft) system is ‘fully operational’ as it embarks on serial-production for several undisclosed launch customers.

Paramount Group also demonstrated the AHRLAC Production Development Model (PDM), a substantially improved version equipped with ejection seats, on-board oxygen-generation system (OBOGS), retractable landing-gear, a modern integrated avionics suite, lighter airframe and quieter propeller and exhaust.

The AHRLAC production line is located at the Wonderboom International Airport Complex. Construction of the 15,000 m2 facility began in 2016. It is to have the capacity to roll-out 24 aircraft per year.

Paramount Group’s Founder and Executive Chairman Ivor Ichikowitz said:

“It [the AHRLAC] brings us one step closer to addressing a key industry need – the capability to conduct numerous missions, in a variety of environments that previously required multiple aircraft. It offers a cost-effective solution to maintaining aeronautical relevance and effectiveness in an increasingly demanding, and ever-changing world.”

Paramount Group is excited for the AHRLAC for several reasons. First, the company presents the AHRLAC as the “first” combat aircraft to be designed in Africa. Second, that the AHRLAC – with its projected flight cost of $1,000 per hour – would aptly fulfill the needs of countries in need of low-cost airpower.

The principal target market of the AHRLAC include countries investing – or otherwise interested – in low-cost turboprop-powered close air support aircraft, such as the Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano. A number of these countries are also located in Sub-Saharan Africa, a key target market of the company.

The AHRLAC is being positioned as a multi-mission solution suitable for surveillance, border patrol, anti-smuggling and disaster relief operations. It can also support counterinsurgency operations.

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also reports that the AHRLAC’s military variant, the Mwari, is undergoing armament tests using Mokopa anti-tank guided missiles along with 70 mm rockets and 20 mm cannon pods.

The AHRLAC is powered by a single Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboprop engine. Paramount Group says that the AHRLAC can take-off at 550 m with a full payload, reportedly 800 kg. The AHRLAC has a maximum cruise speed of 500 km/h, service ceiling of 31,000 ft and maximum range of 2,000 km.


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DAMEN SHIPYARDS CAPE TOWN (DSCT) RECEIVES PROJECT BIRO ORDER FROM ARMSCOR

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DSCT will deliver three Inshore Patrol Vessels for the South African Navy

Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT) has received an order from Armscor – the acquisition agency for the South African Department of Defence – for three Inshore Patrol Vessels (IPV), 62 x 11 metres. The vessels form part of the South African Navy’s Project Biro. The project aims to develop South Africa’s maritime security, ensuring that the country has the capability to respond effectively, rapidly and cost-efficiently to maritime threats such as illegal trafficking and fishing.

DSCT received the order exactly four years to the day that it received the order to deliver vessels for a previous project for the South African Navy – Project Canter. The yard is delighted to be able to continue to provide support to the navy, says Chairman Mr. Sam Montsi.

“We are very happy to receive this order and are looking forward to this continuation of our long-standing relationship with the South African Navy.”

Participating in Project Biro underlines Damen’s commitment to the South African Government’s Operation Phakisa initiative, which aims to unlock the potential of the country’s maritime industry.

Mr. Montsi continues: “At DSCT we are not only about shipbuilding and repair, but also about providing people with the opportunities needed to reach their potential – whether they work for us or for one of our many local suppliers – and supporting the country’s economy. DSCT is about the development of an entire shipbuilding and related industries.”

Naturally, with this philosophy in mind, DSCT will be sourcing as many components and services as possible for the project from South Africa-based suppliers. In this regard, DSCT plans to provide active support for the Government’s Enterprise Supplier Development programme, supporting small and micro-businesses in the country.

The project will also actively contribute to the Department of Trade & Industry’s National Industrial Participation (NIP) programme and the complimentary, defence-focused Defence Industrial Participation (DIP). In turn this contributes to the Government’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) initiative. DSCT is a Level-3 BBBEE rated company.

The IPVs will be the first vessels of a Damen Sea Axe design to operate in South Africa. The Sea Axe is a revolutionary, Damen patented hull design, which offers exceptional seakeeping behavior. The straight-edged, axe-shaped bow cuts through the water, minimising slamming for improved safety and comfort on board and significantly reduced fuel consumption and emissions.

About Damen Shipyards Cape Town (Pty) Ltd:

Building in Africa for Africa

Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT) builds ships in Africa for Africa. To date, the yard has constructed & delivered 40 vessels to the African continent from its base in Cape Town, including offshore patrol vessels, dredgers, tugs, naval craft and platform supply vessels, some of which have been built for stock in order to ensure fast delivery. The DSCT Services & Repairs department has provided training, delivery, maintenance & repairs assistance to countries across the globe and especially to African countries seeking to source high quality services from South Africa.

Through thorough research, on-going evaluations and customer feedback, DSCT’s vessels are of the highest international quality standards and provide customers with the assurance of generations of proven high-tech commercial off-the-shelf (C.O.T.S) vessels.

DSCT has a well-established Apprenticeship Training Centre which is accredited by MerSETA and ChietaSETA. Apprentices selected for the Apprenticeship Training Centre program have the opportunity to obtain the necessary skills in order to achieve artisan status in Welding, Boiler Making, Pipe Fitting or Electrical and they are provided with a job opportunity at the same time. The first, second and third year apprentices are productive on the shop floor under the mentorship of qualified artisans until they pass their Trade Test. Once qualified, all apprentices have the opportunity to be absorbed into the business as artisans. To date, DSCT has trained 63 Apprentices of which 19 are female. DSCT’s Apprenticeship Training Centre is the true reflection of the yard’s commitment to the South African Governments economic initiative, known as Operation Phakisa, which aims to reach the potential of the South African Maritime Sector, including shipbuilding, and to accelerate economic growth and job creation.

Damen Shipyards Group

Damen Shipyards Group operates 33 shipbuilding and repair yards, employing 10,000 people worldwide. Damen has delivered more than 6,000 vessels in more than 100 countries and delivers some 180 vessels annually to customers worldwide. Based on its unique, standardised ship-design concept Damen is able to guarantee consistent quality.

Damen’s focus on standardisation, modular construction and keeping vessels in stock leads to short delivery times, low ‘total cost of ownership’, high resale values and reliable performance. Furthermore, Damen vessels are based on thorough R&D and proven technology.

Damen offers a wide range of products, including tugs, workboats, naval and patrol vessels, high speed craft, cargo vessels, dredgers, vessels for the offshore industry, ferries, pontoons and superyachts.

For nearly all vessel types Damen offers a broad range of services, including maintenance, spare parts delivery, training and the transfer of (shipbuilding) know-how. Damen also offers a variety of marine components, such as nozzles, rudders, anchors, anchor chains and steel works.

Damen Shiprepair & Conversion (DSC) has a worldwide network of sixteen repair and conversion yards of which twelve are located in North West Europe. Facilities at the yards include more than 50 floating and (covered) drydocks, the largest of which is 420 x 90 metres, as well as slopes, ship lifts and indoor halls. Projects range from the smallest simple repairs through Class’ maintenance to complex refits and the complete conversion of large offshore structures. DSC completes around 1,350 repair and maintenance jobs annually, both at yards as well as in ports and during voyage.

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Sep 23, 2017
Today at 12:32 PM

only now noticed
Egypt takes delivery of first Gowind corvette from France Posted on September 22, 2017
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now
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The countdown has started, 60 days until the launch of
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's locally built
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-class corvette at Alex Shipyard.
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TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
Just what Africa needs MORE AKs!!!
8.jpg
AGREEMENT BETWEEN PGZ-DICON REGARDING THE TRANSFER OF PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY OF THE BERYL M762 RIFLE
27-03-2018
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Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa signed with the Defense Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) a memorandum on defining conditions and rules for technology transfer for the production of Beryl M762 rifles in Nigeria.

On Monday, March 26 at the headquarters of Fabryka Broni "Łucznik" in Radom, a memorandum with the Nigerian company DICON was solemnly signed. The content of the memorandum sets out the rules and conditions for the Beryllium M762 carabiner technology divided into three stages in Nigeria. The Polish Armaments Group was represented by the chairman of the board, Dr. Jakub Skiba and members of the board Paweł Pelc and Michał Kuczmierowski, while the Nigerian side of the director-general DICON general of the division Bamidele OlalekeOgunkale and director of the legal office DICON Kike Abiodun Bello. The letter of intent was signed in the presence of the Secretary of State in the Ministry of National Defense, Sebastian Chwałek.

- Abuja's Armed Forces have been using Beryl M762 carabiners for several years. Very good opinions about them were one of the main reasons why our partners from Nigeria chose them as products that have a chance to become the basic equipment of their soldiers. This is a great opportunity not only for the Radom Arms Factory, but also for other companies from our Group, to build a bridgehead for further expansion on those markets on the basis of this cooperation - said Jakub Skiba, President of PGZ SA after the memorandum was signed.

Beryllium M762 is the equivalent of the modified wz.1 carabiner used by the Polish Army in 2009 96C. The only difference is ammunition - version M762 uses cartridges 7.62 mm x 39, while in Poland 5.56 mm x 45 ammunition is used. In February 2015, the first batch of 1000 Polish Byzantes M762 along with repair kits hit the Nigerian army. This was the result of a contract worth over PLN 3.3 million, signed between Fabryka Broni and the Nigerian army in 2014. Another contract was concluded at the beginning of 2015 and included the sale of 500 Beryllium M762 powered by a 7.62 mm x 39 cartridge and 10 Mini Beryl M556 subcarabinets for 5.56 mm x 45 ammunition. Deliveries were completed at the end of June 2015. The PGZ Group companies also provided supplies of training systems dedicated to Beryl carabiners.

- Representatives of the Nigerian Armed Forces praise the reliability, ease of use and ergonomics of our Beryllium. Difficult climatic conditions and the asymmetry of the threats that Nigerian military face on a daily basis builds the demand for solid products. All the more glad that this product are carbines from Fabryka Broni - said the president of the management board of Fabryka Broni "Łucznik", Adam Suliga.

- Today's memorandum is the next step on the path of cooperation with Nigeria. Development of an effective technology transfer model within the partnership with DICON will expand our competence to further expand into foreign markets and strengthen our position among other potential partners - added a member of the management board of Fabryka Broni "Łucznik", Maciej Borecki.

Defense Industries Corportation of Nigeria, DICON, is a state-owned company of the Nigerian state, subject to the Nigerian Armed Forces. Deals mainly with special trade, ie production of defense equipment and products for the civil market, with special emphasis on small arms and ammunition dedicated to it
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