Russians, "Politically Correct" South Africans Vie for African Arms  Trade
World Socialist Website
Posted March 12, 2008 | 


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.
 



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