SAAF Tanker support to German Air Force:

Info from TFDC media statement.

SAAF Boeing 707 refuelling a German AF Tornado over Southern Africa.

During the afternoon of 31 October 2001 two Tornado fighter aircraft from the German Air Force, supported by a Boeing 707 of 60 Sqdn SAAF, touched down on South African soil at the Test Flight and Development Centre (TFDC), adjacent to the Overberg Test Range (OTR), Bredasdorp, South Africa. This visit to South Africa originates from 1998 when the then Chief of the SAAF, Lt Gen Willem Hechter, committed the SAAF towards tanker support for the OTR in their venture with the German Air Force. The benefits of such an initiative for both the SAAF and the  industry were realised and subsequently a contract was signed between the OTR and the Bundesampt fur, Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung (BWB), also involving SAAF tanker support to the German Air Force. After successful air refuelling trials in Germany during 1999, the German Air Force's Tornado fleet was cleared for air refuelling on the SAAF B707 Tankers. OTR and BWB have reached an agreement for the use of OTR and the airfield facilities of TFDC.

The support to the German Air Force entails the following:

• The use of the 60 Sqdn B707 tanker to refuel these aircraft to and from Overberg via the Canary Islands and Ascension Island.
• Use of the OTR and TFDC test facilities during November 2001 for aircraft trials, using the Tornado as a platform.

This initiative between the German Air Force, the SAAF and industry once again confirmed the indispensable and essential in-flight refuelling capability of the SAAF, as a force multiplier for the South African National Defence Force and the Department of Defence. This historic event marks the first opportunity where a 60 Sqdn tanker supports a foreign Air Force over thousands of kilometres on an intercontinental transfer of aircraft. This capability is unique to mostly larger air forces and the strategic value thereof in an African peace support scenario can not be taken lightly. The deployment capability of the Cheetah currently and the Gripen in future depend heavily on the availability of this kind of support, which is aptly demonstrated by 60 Sqdn during this exercise.Furthermore, a well-established partnership between OTR and TFDC ensures that these facilities are internationally known as the "Centre for test flight excellence".

Further Reading:

• The Best photos of these aircraft can be found in "More than Game" by H. Potgieter and includes photos of the Boeings with radommes fitted.
  

• "Aircraft of the SAAF", Potgieter & Steenkamp.
• "SAAF at War", Bouwer, Louw.
• "More than Game", H. Potgieter
  
• "Air Report '97", H. Potgieter
  
• ad Astra, various
  
• Aero Africa, Oct. 95, G. Leitch
  
• SA Flyer, Sept.99, E. Furter
  
• Jane's Defense Weekly, various
  
• Flight International, various
  
• SAAF Media release via TFDC 2001
• Original Article: IPMS Pretoria '94. Additional research: A. Dyason. Compiled by: A. Dyason,

GALLERY - Opens in New Window. Registration required.

Squadrons: 60 Sqdn