South African Air Force
"Through hardships to the stars"
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. It is located adjacent to the Kruger National Park. In the late 1990s an unused portion of the base was converted into a civilian airport known as Eastgate Airport. It was also an emergency landing site for the
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...
.
Units hosted
* 19 Squadron - Helicopter squadron
* 101 Squadron - Light transport (reserve)
* 514 Squadron - Security services
* 7 Aircraft Servicing Unit - Maintenance support
* Lowveld Airspace Control Sector - Airspace control
* Air Force Command and Control School - Training
History
The base was officially opened on 1 July 1978. It was designed from the start to be a highly protected wartime base. As such, it has armoured and
Hardened Aircraft Shelters
A hardened aircraft shelter (HAS) or protective aircraft shelter (PAS) is a reinforced hangar to house and protect military aircraft from enemy attack. Cost considerations and building practicalities limit their use to fighter size aircraft.
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, with revetments placed close to the runways for aircraft on immediate take-off standby duty.
The base is teeming with wildlife, being surrounded by the 25 km² AFB Hoedspruit Game Reserve. Keeping the runway clear of animals was a massive problem. This led the base to introduce three
cheetah
The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...
s on the airfield, with the end result that animal incursions onto the runway have decreased by 90%. Another SAAF base,
AFB Makhado
Air Force Base Makhado , formerly Air Force Base Louis Trichardt, is an airbase of the South African Air Force. It is the SAAF's northernmost base, situated at Louis Trichardt near the border with Zimbabwe, as well as being its most modern, an ...
, has since also adopted this concept.
The base gained international media attention in 2000, when it hosted the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
's rescue contingent as part of
Operation Atlas Response
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
, the mission to provide rescue and humanitarian support to areas of
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
devastated by the severe flooding caused by Cyclone Eline.
The base motto is ''Pro Nostrorum Pace'' (Peace for our People).
Eastgate Airport
A civil airport terminal, known as the Eastgate Airport, was established at the southern end of the airfield in the early 1990s. The terminal's main business is serving tourists visiting private game reserves in the area as well as access to the Kruger National Park via the nearby Orpen Gate. Facilities at the terminal include car hire and foreign exchange.
Charter flights are offered by