Operation Savannah: A Measure of SADF Decline, Resourcefulness and Modernisation

dc.creator	Rodney Warwick
dc.date	2013-02-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-07-20T20:09:45Z
dc.date.available	2015-07-20T20:09:45Z
dc.identifier	10.5787/40-3-1042
dc.identifier	2224-0020
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/1aaa26d9a0494807bcb5cf42fc5b0ddb
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/9263
dc.identifier.uri	https://doaj.org/article/1aaa26d9a0494807bcb5cf42fc5b0ddb
dc.description	SADF conventional warfare capacity exhibited a decline during the 1950s, followed by belated efforts at rearmament and consolidation during the 1960s. However, Operation Savannah, the SADF’s intervention in the Angolan civil war during 1975–1976, as the force’s first involvement in a conventional-type war since 1945, exposed SADF weaknesses, but also strengths. Authorised amidst debilitating secrecy by a miscalculating South African government, Savannah demonstrated significant South African military equipment inadequacies, particularly in terms of artillery, armour and the need for an infantry combat vehicle. Savannah also gave hints of SADF strength residing in the resourcefulness of its personnel and their aptitude for mobile warfare. But rapid and effective Cuban military intervention also showed that SADF conventional warfare reaction and capacity needed urgent attention. This article attempts to address some of these themes while following the course of this “first battle” by the SADF after thirty years of relative peace.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy)
dc.relation	http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/1042
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/2224-0020
dc.source	Scientia Militaria : South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 40, Iss 3 (2013)
dc.subject	Operation Savannah
dc.subject	Border War
dc.subject	Task Force Zulu
dc.subject	SADF 1960s and 1970s
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.subject	DOAJ:Military Science
dc.subject	DOAJ:Technology and Engineering
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.subject	DOAJ:Military Science
dc.subject	DOAJ:Technology and Engineering
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.title	Operation Savannah: A Measure of SADF Decline, Resourcefulness and Modernisation
dc.type	Article