South African Space Program
 

I was interested to view this link today, I was aware that there was another program running at the same time as the nuclear program in the 80's, but naturally it was a closely guarded secret..

The technology for the time seemed quite advanced and obviously some arrangements must have been in place to launch satellites etc.


FYI

IG

"Greensat"
Part of the original Triad: i,e. The Bomb, The Launcher & The Recce Satellite. All closed down .

Suggestions elsewhere that the satellite had a lot in common with Ofeq.
https://fas.org/spp/military/program/asat/at_950415.htm

Interesting Tartare,

So was this really an Israeli black program set up to provide alternative recce and ICBM targeting?

Questions, Questions?

IG

Makes you wonder.
I suspect there may have been some agreement and technology transfer.
Have absolutely no doubt that a weapon was tested in the South Atlantic - see Vela Incident.

Not in South Africa.

The "Vela" double flash was natural..

Haraka,

A considerable amount of recent evidence suggests not.

Double Flash

IG

Look out the window, can you see the black limousines and the guys with dark suits and sun glasses? They are coming for you...

I am pretty sure that Vela was a nuclear test and i have the proof... wait, somebody's at the door...

Haraka - if you read the most recent evidence in detail, the likelihood of the double flash being caused by natural phenomena affecting both bhangmeters (love that name) at the same time was implausibly low.
The consensus of opinion now is it was a low yield test.
Oy vey.
Apparently it really was a dark and stormy night - chosen quite deliberately.
But Yossi and friends didn't count on the decommissioned Vela's sensors still working...

Who am I to argue ? :)

A mirror of this thread is extant at <https://www.avcom.co.za/phpBB3/index.php>

There are posters there who were involved in the program and have interesting memoirs...

I have had a few beers over a braai with a couple of the engineers at that time and they do have fascinating stories to tell. In a nutshell, it worked.

Direct link here: SA Program

IG

Well - there you go.
From the horse's mouth... so to speak.
Fascinating.

Back in the apartheid days, Cuban troops were massing in Angola and the implication was that they would push through Namibia and "liberate" South Africa. A test site was set up in the desert for an atomic bomb. This site was clearly visible to spy satellites and implied to those watching that an invasion would be met with a nuclear response. As the invasion didn't proceed, it appears to have been decided at higher levels that it wouldn't be a good idea. An Israeli style ultimate deterrent.

One of the reasons the Cuban invasion didn't happen was the S. African army being parked a couple of miles outside of Lobito Bay. I had a couple of acquaintances serving in the army at the time and they each said they were frustrated at having to watch the Cubans disembarking while the politicians did politician stuff. A common comment was "we could have destroyed them before they ever got ashore". After a while, they were withdrawn back into South West Africa (there was no Namibia then).
Given my experience of working with the S.A. defence forces (Navy), I honestly couldn't imagine the country actually developing either a nuclear weapon or the means to deliver one. One example of the native arms industry I witnessed at first hand was the attempts to develop a proximity fuze for use with anti-aircraft artillery. Using a pair of 4.5" shore mounted guns (identical to those mounted on the Type 12 frigates) a series of test shoots at an aircraft towed target took place. Tests resulted in failure after failure with the shells going bang at very low altitudes. Aircraft above 1,000ft were totally safe from this shell. Eventually someone back at the head shed figured it out; the radio frequency chosen for the fuze's operation was almost identical to the frequency of the local Cape Town Radio FM transmitter. Between the shore battery and the local FM radio station was a couple of hills, including Table Mountain. As the shell climbed from the gun toward the target, it reached a point where it rose above the shadow of the mountain, picked up the signals from the transmitter and went bang!

South Africa is so far the only Nation to have "Denuclearised", for which elements in their defence associated community stiill regret as being a political surrender without compensation.