Lt. Bomba defects to South Africa.

Compiled by A. Dyason, original article D. Cooke, top photo 1 Sqdn (H. Potgieter).

Lt Adriano Francisco Bomba of the Mozambique Air Force took off from his air base outside Maputo at about 09H00, on Wednesday, 8 July 1981. The flight should have been a routine navigational training flight, but turned out to be a severe test of South Africa's early warning systems and our fighter aircraft's capability to counter foreign hostile threats. At the time, the "war" was perceived to be quite a distance away; being the northern border of what is today, Namibia. South Africa had by Western standards, one of the world's most sophisticated radar defense networks, capable of early detection of any hostile aircraft that could attack the industrial hart land of the PWV (today Gauteng).

Protection of the Pretoria - Johannesburg area was the radar network's number one priority. The initial system was developed with the help of Marconi and consisted of a number of radar installations at strategic locations, to cover the whole northern sector of South Africa. Even more remarkable, South Africa had one of the world's first computer based systems, capable of automatically detecting hostile threats and directing interception aircraft to the threat. This system was fully operational one year, before a similar system was installed for the use of NATO in Western Europe. The backbone of the SAAF's interception force was for a number of years the venerable Mirage F1 CZ, of 3 Sqdn, based at Waterkloof AFB. Two of these aircraft were on permanent standby, fully armed and systems kept at the ready, by ground equipment coupled to the aircraft. Pilots took turns in the readiness room. If the Northern Defense network detected a suspicious "blip", the standby F1 CZs would blast down the runway to intercept. The system was continuously upgraded over the years with ultra sophisticated equipment all locally manufactured and today cover the whole of South Africa, with the primary interception aircraft being the Denel Cheetah C.

The flight for asylum:

However, Lt. Bomba flew normally as far as Manhica, north east of Maputo and then turned north to the small town of Xinavane after which he dived to treetop level and headed due west for the South African border as fast as safety would allow at that altitude. About halfway to the border from Xinavane he followed the course, of the Massintonto River and crossed into South Africa at a point about 26 km north of Lower Sabie in the Kruger National Park. The MiG 17 crossed the Kruger National Park still at treetop height until reaching Mala Mala. Then Lt Bomba put his aircraft into a steep climb, levelling off at 22 000 feet to attract the SAAF's attention. To his amazement, after a few brief moments at 22 000 feet, two Mirage F1 AZs from AFB Hoedspruit, intercepted his aircraft - the Northern Defense network achieved it's primary goal, that being of detection of aerial threats and directing counter air operations. Two Mirage F1 AZs returning to base from a training exercise were diverted to intercept and investigate the unidentified aircraft and to take whatever action was necessary. Maj Pretorius said he and Capt Louw found the intruder without trouble.

Lt. Bomba's flight to South Africa in a Russian MiG 17.

Lt. A. Bomba of the Mozambique Air Force.

"At first, I could not believe my eyes when I saw the sky blue MiG with a Mozambique symbol. Not every day do you see a Russian plane flying over your home territory," he said. The MiG had been flying at about 900 km/h when intercepted about 40 km inside South African territory. South African pilots sent to investigate the unidentified aircraft flying at 22 000 feet, were ready to shoot it down when they recognised it as a MiG 17. But they held their fire when they realised that the pilot had no aggressive intentions. Unbeknown to the SAAF pilots. Maj F. Pretorius and Capt H. Louw, both of 1 Sqdn, the young Mozambican pilot was making desperate attempts to contact them by radio. But he did not know the correct frequency. The SAAF pilots made eye to-eye contact with Lt Bomba and, with an exchange of hand signals according to international procedure, instructed him to accompany them to their home base at Hoedspruit. Once the MiG was on course for Hoedspruit, Capt Louw took up a position where he could keep the aircraft in his sights while Maj Pretorius kept both aircraft covered from further behind to protect his colleague against surprises from behind. In case this MiG turned out to be the first of a much larger fighter force. Over the air base, the Mirages lowered their undercarriage and the MiG did the same and landed after the first Mirage. Capt Louw had to land first due to his low fuel reserve and the MiG did one more circuit withMaj Pretorius before landing at Hoedspruit. When he landed at Hoedspruit, Lt Bomba opened his canopy and announced to the party of SAAF Officers who met his aircraft that he wanted political asylum in South Africa.This was at 10h29 on July 8, less than half an hour earlier; Lt Bomba took off from Mozambique. In the fighter pilot's world things happen at a brisk pace. By this time, communication lines between the air base and Pretoria were already humming and the Mozambique Air Force was beginning to wonder what was keeping Lt Bomba ... A few hours later, the 23 year old Mozambique Air Force pilot told a crowded Press conference at the air base that he had come to South Africa because he did not agree with Frelimo policy. He spoke good English with a slight American accent. He was immaculately dressed in his Mozambican camouflage uniform, with brass lieutenant pips on his shoulders.

"In Mozambique after six years of independence, I can't see progress. The way of life in Mozambique is getting worse and worse and I am tired of this and so I made up my mind and decided to come to South Africa and ask for political asylum. When I arrived here in South Africa I was very well received and I am happy with that," he said. "The reception these gentlemen gave me - very good - and I feel myself to be all right here." "Now you must excuse me, you see, I look nervous, don't I? I am tied so excuse me."The SAAF was adamant that a Mozambican pilot would not fly the MiG out from the top secret Northern Transvaal (Mpumalanga) base. In the end the MiG 17 was thoroughly evaluated and even flown by SA test pilots and fighter pilots. The aircraft was even displayed at a SA airshow, before it was returned to Mozambique, by road. South Africa was not in a state of war with Mozambique, but opted to look after Lt. Bomba. However, various SAAF bases were on full alert due to the uncertainty of the action, Mozambique would take. But the incident was resolved peacefully with the return of the MiG 17 by South Africa.

Maj Pretorius and Capt Louw of 1 Sqdn.

The condition of the MiG 17:

The aircraft was painted in an overall grey blue colour with markings as per the drawings by Dave Cooke. SAAF technicians at Air Force Base Hoedspruit were not impressed by the state of the Mozambique Air Force MiG 17 used by Lt Bomba to fly to South Africa. On landing it was found that the 37 mm Nudelmann-Suranov NS-2 cannon - the MiG's main armament was jammed The other two 23mm Nudelmann-Rikter VY cannons were loaded. The tyres of the main undercarriage were worn and should already been replaced. The most striking visual evidence of the maintenance standards at the home base of Lt Bomba's MiG Squadron was the state of the 400 litre drop tanks fitted at half span under each wing. Both tanks had been used as steps and had large dents.

External fuel tanks showed signs of being used as convenient steps.

The Mozambique insignia:

The meaning of the symbols in the insignia of the Mozambique Air Force MiG 17 intrigued many who saw it close up for the first time at AFB Hoedspruit. The symbols, also incorporated into the flag of Mozambique, represent Industry (a gear wheel), Revolution (an assault rifle), Education (opened book), Agriculture (a hoe) and Marxism (a star).

In the end South Africa's early warning systems came under the spotlight as being highly capable and ultra sophisticated. The fact that the MiG was intercepted only 40 kms into South Africa, fuelled speculation that the aircraft must have been tracked from a considerable distance while still in Mozambique. But the SAAF never confirmed the speculation and remains tight lipped over SA's early warning network to this day. The MiG was not a great "catch" in terms of technological systems fitted to the aircraft. In fact it highlighted a far simpler aspect, namely camouflage. SAAF pilots that flew the aircraft remarked on the effective camouflage (at altitude) and this aspect highlighted the ineffectiveness of the SAAF camouflage schemes then in service on the fighter aircraft. This aspect and operations in the Border War area led to the current toned-down camouflage patterns in use by the SAAF.

Please note: No one seems to know what happened to Lt. Bomba - apparently he later returned to his home country, to fight the regime and was subsequently killed in a fire fight. But could not confirm this. If you have more info - please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Also looking for the serial numbers of the Mirage F1 AZs flown by Maj Pretorius and Capt. Louw. Please accept my appologies for the poor condition of some of the photos, but the incident happened more than 20 years ago.