Johannesburg - Serious shortages on the defence force's operational budget have made it very difficult to implement certain of the new multimillion rand weaponry.

The navy, for example, has a R53m budget deficit on its operational budget, which means that it has to place operational units on a lower level of alertness to compensate for this.

The initial cost estimations of the new corvettes' operation costs were "unrealistic" and are being recalculated.

This has come to light in answers to written questions in parliament from the African National Congress's Gerhard Koornhof to Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota.

The navy is particularly strapped by the shortages, which have been predicted by experts some time ago, as far as the delivery of new equipment such as the four corvettes go.

As far as the air force's delivery schedule for new planes is concerned, the delivery of the new Agusta helicopters has already been delayed for more than two years.

Certain of the corvettes' specifications had to be "watered down" although they were still completed within the guidelines of the end user's specification.

The procurement project for the corvettes made provision for providing all necessary components. However, only limited components will now be delivered because of a shortage of money. This makes it very difficult for the navy to decide which parts to take and which to leave.

Meanwhile, the navy has managed to secure an additional R63m over the next three years from the treasury to get the corvettes operational. However, this still leaves the navy with a 50% deficit.

The navy further requested that the about R50m raised from the sale of the SAS Outeniqua be added to its operational budget.

Apart from these problems, the navy is about 40% understaffed at present and can afford only 6 500 personnel. About 60% of the navy's total budget goes towards salaries, which leaves about 40% for operational expenses.

Recent reports indicated that problems with putting the navy's submarines into service and the timely training of a representative crew could mean that the submarines have to be transported to South Africa per ship.

Delays in the delivery of the Agusta helicopters are causing huge problems for the air force in planning for the withdrawal of the Alouette helicopters.

The main reason for the delay is the fact that the manufacturer has not been able to completely certify the helicopters for operational use. The helicopters should have been delivered last year, but will now be delivered only in the second half of 2005.

These delays have apparently also had financial implications for Denel Aviation, which will manufacture most of the helicopters locally as a subcontractor.

"General" shortages of enough aircrew and technical staff are affecting all helicopter squadrons in the air force. The training of personnel is "seriously affected" by the late delivery of the Agustas.

With acknowledgements to Erika Gibson and the Beeld.