09-05-2004, 02:59 PM
Very interesting Taz!
I lived in South Africa at that time (as a kid), and visited South West Africa (now Namibia) a number of times, which was used as the primary launching point into Angola.
In response to the Soviet activities in Angola and elsewhere in Southern Africa in the mid 1970s, the South African government stepped up its nuclear program to counter any possible threat from the Soviets and their allies after Portugal abandoned its colonies of Angola and Mocambique to the Communists in 1975.
"During the 1970's and especially during the latter half of that decade, the international security situation around South Africa, deteriorated markedly. This was mainly due to its own racially based internal policies but was also exacerbated by Portugal's withdrawal from its African colonies of Mozambique and Angola and the uncertainties about the true intentions of the Warsaw Pact countries and especially the Soviet Union, in the light of their openly declared expansionist policies in Southern Africa. The strong build-up of Cuban surrogate forces in Angola from 1975 onwards and which eventually peaked at 50 000 foreign soldiers, reinforced a strong perception within the Government of international isolation should South African territory be under threat.
Increasing international restrictions on the supply of conventional arms against South Africa, primarily due to its internal policies, also made the argument that the country virtually had no alternative but to develop its own nuclear deterrent to counter an external threat, probably convincing to the Government of the time."
from: http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/rsa/nuke/stumpf.htm
South Africa was the first country to dismantle its native nuclear weapons (it made 7 bombs, with missile technology borrowed from the Israelis) in 1993.
Although the Soviets never brought in nuclear weapons into Southern Africa, the staunchly anti-communist South Africans were in the grip of the cold war just like countries in Europe and North America. Having two large communist countries near it was too much for SA to stomach (and for the USA as well, since the CIA had a huge presence in the area).
As an aside, does anyone know if South Africa was ever targeted by ICBMs from the Soviet Union, or didn't they care enough to bomb the place?
Matt.
I lived in South Africa at that time (as a kid), and visited South West Africa (now Namibia) a number of times, which was used as the primary launching point into Angola.
In response to the Soviet activities in Angola and elsewhere in Southern Africa in the mid 1970s, the South African government stepped up its nuclear program to counter any possible threat from the Soviets and their allies after Portugal abandoned its colonies of Angola and Mocambique to the Communists in 1975.
"During the 1970's and especially during the latter half of that decade, the international security situation around South Africa, deteriorated markedly. This was mainly due to its own racially based internal policies but was also exacerbated by Portugal's withdrawal from its African colonies of Mozambique and Angola and the uncertainties about the true intentions of the Warsaw Pact countries and especially the Soviet Union, in the light of their openly declared expansionist policies in Southern Africa. The strong build-up of Cuban surrogate forces in Angola from 1975 onwards and which eventually peaked at 50 000 foreign soldiers, reinforced a strong perception within the Government of international isolation should South African territory be under threat.
Increasing international restrictions on the supply of conventional arms against South Africa, primarily due to its internal policies, also made the argument that the country virtually had no alternative but to develop its own nuclear deterrent to counter an external threat, probably convincing to the Government of the time."
from: http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/rsa/nuke/stumpf.htm
South Africa was the first country to dismantle its native nuclear weapons (it made 7 bombs, with missile technology borrowed from the Israelis) in 1993.
Although the Soviets never brought in nuclear weapons into Southern Africa, the staunchly anti-communist South Africans were in the grip of the cold war just like countries in Europe and North America. Having two large communist countries near it was too much for SA to stomach (and for the USA as well, since the CIA had a huge presence in the area).
As an aside, does anyone know if South Africa was ever targeted by ICBMs from the Soviet Union, or didn't they care enough to bomb the place?
Matt.
