10 Anti-Aircraft Regiment is an

anti-aircraft artillery Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

of the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Service. ...

History

Origin

10 Anti-Aircraft Regiment was formally established on 1 February 1968 as though it was a new unit of the Permanent Force, without any mention of the fact that it was obviously a reconstruction of 10 Anti-Aircraft Battery. Its headquarters was at Youngsfield in Cape Town, where the Artillery Air Defence School had been established from the same date.

Incidents

13 October 2007: An

Oerlikon GDF The Oerlikon GDF or Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon is a towed anti-aircraft gun made by Oerlikon Contraves (renamed as ''Rheinmetall Air Defence AG'' following the merger with Rheinmetall in 2009). The system was originally designated 2 ZLA/ ...

Mk.5 35 mm anti-aircraft twin-barrelled gun malfunctioned, spraying hundreds of high-explosive 0,5 kg 35mm cannon shells around the five-gun firing position. By the time the gun had emptied its dual 250-round magazines, nine soldiers were dead and eleven injured. The accident occurred just before 9 am, when a battery from 10 Anti-Aircraft Regiment began a live-fire exercise at the Army Combat Training Centre at Lohatlha as part of the SANDF's Exercise Seboka.

Starstreak missile development

10 AA Regiment participated in the first live firing of

Starstreak Starstreak is a British short-range surface to air missile that can be used as a man-portable air-defence system (MANPADS) or in heavier systems, manufactured by Thales Air Defence (formerly Shorts Missile Systems), in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I ...

missiles on African soil. This firing took place at the

Denel Overberg Test Range The Denel Overberg Test Range is a weapons systems testing facility in the Overberg region on the south coast of South Africa, near Arniston, Western Cape. It includes launch pads and tracking systems. It was used to test the RSA series of Is ...

. On 24 September 2020, General Officer Commanding Interim Provincial Command KwaZulu-Natal, Brigadier General Siphiwo Dlomo, visited the incoming Bravo Company of 10 Anti-Aircraft Regiment at Ndumo, where it was arriving to take part in

South African National Defence Force The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) comprises the Military, armed forces of South Africa. The commander of the SANDF is appointed by the President of South Africa from one of the Military branch, armed services. They are in turn a ...

operations in support of the SA Government response to the

COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa The COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). On 5 March 2020, Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize had conf ...

. The purpose of the visit was to welcome the company and to consider command and control aspects as the unit is co-located with other Operation NOTLELA elements.

Equipment

;Historical 10 Anti-Aircraft Regiment has used the following equipment throughout its history: * 40mm Bofors, * 3.7 inch heavy AA gun * GA1-CO1 20mm light gun * GDF-002 twin 35mm automatic gun with Super Fledermaus fire control system * ZU-23-2 twin 23mm and * 20/3 M55 A2 anti-aircraft guns ;Current * GDF-005 twin 35mm gun with the

Skyshield Skyshield Air-defence system is a modular, light weight, Short Range Air Defense (SHORAD) system developed by the Swiss corporation Oerlikon Contraves (now a subsidiary of Rheinmetall of Germany). The successor to the Skyguard defense syste ...

fire control system * Starstreak ground-to-air missile

Insignia

Previous Dress Insignia

References

Artillery regiments of South Africa Air defence units and formations Military units and formations in Kimberley Military units and formations established in 1968 1968 establishments in South Africa {{SouthAfrica-mil-stub