Russians, "Politically Correct" South Africans Vie for African Arms Trade

Geopolitical realities notwithstanding, both black-infused South Africa arms industry and revisionist Russian arms corporations are heading to "tilt" in the growing African arms trade. Not a rumor of this in the news, of course. But the public relations and advertising forces of these two nations are already locked in hand to hand combat. Literally no prisoners taken, here.

South Africa has changed names but not games: its official arms industry group, tagged "Armscor," has been arming smaller nations worldwide for decades. Formed as a kind of official hybrid mated from good, white, business savvy Afrikaners, and the once apartheid government of the huge country, Armscor has added a tremendous and perhaps insurmountable advantage in dealing with black, majority rule Africa... its managers and sales force are about one third black themselves.

Chaired by Dr. P.S. Molefe, "Armscor" has decided that the color of money. whether rand or Euro, or dollar...trumps political and racial ideology. It is developing a niche for its Rooivalk attack helicopter, and the Rooivalk is a great sell for any African country. More and more, African nations are facing insurgency forces chumming around savannah and jungle with products being modernized by a competitor. These products happen to be the ZSU antiaircraft machine guns developed by the former Soviet regime in Russia. And the competitor happens to be the Russian trading and corporate conglomerate "Rosoboronexport State Corporation." New times, new friends. Old enemies. Good money.

"Rosoboron," for short, sells updates for the ZU-23 dual and quad series of antiaircraft heavy machineguns. The ZU-23 and its progeny...a very prodigious and fertile family which has been shooting down American, French, British and South African aircraft for about forty years, was a low-tech but amenable weapon system. The weapon itself fires the heavy hitting 23mm. round, which formerly had great problems penetrating improved armor on modern helicopters. American flyers in the Vietnam War gave a grudging respect for the weapon, which made up for lack of radar control by sheer volume or "weight of shell." It was durable, it was lethal and... worse of all... it was cheap, which meant that piss-poor nations like North Vietnam stocked up on them like a fat kid stocks up on dark chocolates. But new helicopters sold by every modern nation have tougher armor which defeated the old rounds.

But not to worry. Rosoboron will not only refurbish and clean up the ZU-23 barrels (from two to four, to six on other mountings), but also arm them with special armor-defeating rounds. These pass through most, if not all, armors for a reasonable cost. All of this from their official website at www.rusarm.ru, and the catalog which they proudly burnish. Truth be told, the formerly frontline majority rule states of Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Angola possess tens of thousands of these weapons. It just so happens that the "Rooivalk" would be a perfect target for the new, updated weapons. As you learned in biology class, when a better pitcher is evolved, so will a Joe DiMaggio evolve to balk his pitching.

Rosoboron's added thrills for barely surviving and homicidal nations must also be noted: according to press releases issued by Rosoboron, and their press release of Feb. 16, 2008, African nations wanting a good deal on a Rooivalk type helicopter gunship can buy a Mi-35 transport helicopter, a MI-17 assault helicopter (an up-armored "Huey" type helicopter) and a MI-28 NE attack helicopter. The press release mentions other products to be shown off at an Indian arms exhibition. It does not mention that the ZU-23 family as upgraded by Rosoboron's experts will also shoot down these Russians helicopters, but that's a story left best for another day. And another sale.