(1) (a) This question is ambiguous largely due to the fact that the 5000 flying hours was an annual target for the 2016/17 FY. This target was divided into 4000 hours for the Joint Force Employment Requirements (JFER) as will be tasked by the Chief of Joint Operations whilst the other 1000 was an annual target for the Very Very Important (VVIP) Unit. Therefore, the total hours flown both for the VVIP Unit and JFER is 989.4 hours for the third quarter. Furthermore, the availability of aircraft was the major factor for not achieving the targeted flight hours during the third quarter. It must also be noted that length turnaround time by local service providers has also had an influence in the low availability of aircraft, a matter which is being addresses.
(b) (i) 35 Squadron. The C47-TP fleet is a legacy system. Flight safety and airworthiness issues restricted the aircraft from flying.
(ii) 41 Squadron. Due to a maintenance contract not being in place for the Cessna Caravan C208, flying ceased during September 2016.
(iii) 44 Squadron. The current fleet exists of only 3 aircraft. Since September 2016, only 1 aircraft has been available for flying missions, the other 2 aircraft were unavailable due to unserviceability.
(iv) 28 Squadron. This platform over achieved the required target of flying hours in the quarter under review.
(2) (a) Again this question is ambiguous as it is not clear whether the 155.7 VIP hours referred to were annual or quarterly hours flown.
(b) A total of 195.5 flying hours were flown with Inkwazi during the FY2016-17.
(c) No hours were flown on leased aircraft.
(d) No cost incurred as there were no aircraft leased.
(3) a) No force employment hours were flown by the SAAF on leased aircraft.
(b) No cost/s were incurred.