Publication: Independent Online Issued: Date: 2007-10-17 Reporter: Sapa

Military Accident : 'Stop Speculation'

 

Publication 

Independent Online
Date

2007-10-17

Reporter

 Sapa

Web Link

 www.iol.co.za

 

The accident at the SA National Defence Force's Lohatlha training grounds last week happened immediately after technicians had finished repairing the weapon, a Mark V twin-barrelled 35mm gun, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said in the National Assembly.

A one-eighth of a second burst *1 of explosive shells from the barrel of the anti-aircraft gun killed nine soldiers and injured 15 others, MPs heard on Tuesday.

Explaining the circumstances of the incident, which happened on Friday, Lekota said the training exercise had involved eight guns positioned 20 metres apart in a line facing north.

The day was the first on which the soldiers involved had used "live" ammunition in a training exercise. The ground targets being fired at were located between 1 500m and 2 000m away.

Each gun had a crew of four. The gun in question was the one on the far right, at the east end of the line.

"As all guns commenced firing, the gun on the far right had a stoppage. This is something that happens from time to time.

"Technicians repaired this gun, while all the other guns continued firing. This is a very normal drill.

"As they continued firing, after the gun was fixed, it swung completely to the left, and one barrel fired off a burst of 15 to 20 shots in one-eighth of a second *2. The gun immediately to the left was hit.

"This fatal burst then killed or injured members of all the guns to the left. The effect was therefore that all of those killed or injured were hit from the right and lost right hands, or right legs, or lost their lives."

He confirmed the total number killed was nine, and 15 injured.

Lekota said the eight guns had been used the day before, "and each one had successfully fired between 500 and 800 rounds".

He further explained the guns could be set on either "manual or electric firing mode".

On Friday, they had all been set on manual. This meant they were sighted on the target, and the barrel then clamped into position  *3"so that the barrel should not move from side to side".

"When firing in electric mode, safety boundaries are computerised *4 and the barrels are not clamped, but move within the boundaries set in advance."

Lekota said care was always taken within the SANDF to avoid accidents, and he offered his condolences to the families of those killed and injured.

He said the soldiers killed would each receive full military funerals.

An investigation into the accident was being carried out by the SA Police Service and forensic experts.

Furthermore, the defence force itself was to hold a board of inquiry into the incident. This would be chaired by two retired generals.

The results of this inquiry would be made public as soon as possible.

Lekota appealed to the media not to speculate on the causes of the accident, and called on the families of those involved to ignore any speculation until the inquiry was completed.

After his statement, the House rose and observed a moment of silence for those killed.

This article was originally published on page 5 of Cape Times on October 17, 2007

With acknowledgements to Sapa and Independent Online.


*1       This is clearly nonsense.

The cannon fires 550 rounds per minute per barrel ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oerlikon_35_mm_twin_cannon); that is 9 rounds per second or 1 round in one-eighth of a second.

But one round does not constitute a burst.

But other reports have said that the gun fired all of the rounds in its magazine (112) during its out of control rampage and that the cannon fired these in a 360 degree arc.



*2      15 rounds will take 1,6 seconds and 20 rounds will take 2,2 seconds. This is an exceeding short time in terms of human reaction times, but it is a lot longer than one-eighth of a second.

So what is it?


*3      If the cannon was indeed set in manual mode, then how could it possibly have been an accident caused by the failure of the computerised fire control system?

But again the anomalies: in manual mode the firing arcs are physically set by mechanical end-stops, yet the cannon slewed around by 90 degrees to fire on the neighbouring gun crews in a line to its left.

So what is the truth.

On a firing range why would there not be mechanically-set firing arcs as well as software arcs.


*4      This is all very well, but unless and until facts - all the relevant facts - are produced, it is actually correct to speculate - it tends to assist in the eventual production of the truth.

The very least that the nine dead and fifteen injured soldiers can expect is the truth and the facts.

The soldiers who will be expected to operate these weapons in the future actually have an even bigger stake in the truth.


So, out with it.

Is it :