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United Nations Security Council Resolution 418

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Date
  
4 November 1977

Code
  
S/RES/409 (Document)

Result
  
Adopted

Meeting no.
  
2,046

Subject
  
South Africa

United Nations Security Council Resolution 418

Voting summary
  
15 voted for None voted against None abstained

United Nations Security Council Resolution 418, adopted unanimously on 4 November 1977, imposed a mandatory arms embargo against South Africa. This resolution differed from the earlier Resolution 282, which was only voluntary. The embargo was subsequently tightened and extended by Resolution 591.

Contents

Impact

The ban had a direct impact in some of the following ways:

  • Last-minute cancellation of the sale of D'Estienne d'Orves-class avisos and Agosta-class submarines by France.
  • The purchase of Saar 4 class missile boat from Israel, some of which had to be built covertly in South Africa instead.
  • South Africa's inability to purchase modern fighter aircraft to counter the air superiority of Cuban MiG-23s over the SAAF in the South African Border War.
  • The growth of the modern day multibillion-dollar South African arms industry.
  • The end of shipments by the United States of enriched uranium fuel for South Africa's SAFARI-1 research nuclear reactor.

    • The embargo was lifted by Resolution 919 following democratic elections in 1994.

    Circumvention of the embargo

    The apartheid government worked around the embargo in a number of ways to source military technology and components that it was unable to procure openly. This resulted in United Nations Security Council Resolution 591 being passed in 1986, which tightened up some of the loopholes and extended the embargo.

    Local production

    Many armaments were wholly designed and manufactured in South Africa, as reflected by the growth and export business of Armscor.

    Smuggling

    Notable operations that came to light were:

  • The 1984 case of the Coventry Four. Four South African businessmen in the UK were found to be operating a front company on the behalf of Kentron that was sourcing materiel in defiance of the ban.
  • The arrest and imprisonment of Gerald Bull for developing the G5 howitzer for Armscor
  • The nuclear weapons programme reached its peak during the embargo; According to David Albright, components for the programme were imported without the knowledge of the international community, or put to ingenious uses that had not been envisaged by the enforcers of the ban.

    • Dual purpose equipment

    Computer and air traffic control radar systems ostensibly destined for civilian use were diverted to the military.

    Use of foreign specialists

    The South African government was able to hire the services of foreign technicians, for example Israeli specialists who had worked on the Lavi fighter aircraft were recruited by Atlas Aircraft Corporation to work on the Atlas Cheetah and Atlas CAVA.

    Licensed production

    In somes cases, foreign armaments were simply produced under license in South Africa, as in the case of the Warrior class strike craft, the R4 assault rifle and Atlantis Diesel Engines.

    Co-operation with other states

    South Africa exchanged military technology with other states in a similar position to itself, notably through the Israel–South Africa Agreement.

    References

    United Nations Security Council Resolution 418 Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA