Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

GERMAN warships and aircraft have joined the SA National Defence Force for a month of military exercises around Cape Town.

Exercise Good Hope III marks the third time the countries have conducted military exercises in South African waters. But for the first time this year, the combined forces will split into two mixed-nationality groups for a series of war games.

“The whole aim of this is not to pit our forces against their forces but for both our forces to learn from each other,” said SA Navy spokesperson, Lieutenant Commander Greyling van den Berg.

Van den Berg said the SA Navy hopes to learn from the experience of the Germans’ naval force while sharing their expertise of navigating around the South African coastline.

The exercises were designed to foster trust and co-operation between the German armed forces and the SANDF, provide practice for each country’s armed forces and to practise multinational operations, which require a common language and set of terminology.

More than 1 800 personnel, 15 ships and 16 aircraft are to take part in the exercises.

Germany has sent two frigates, two combat support vessels, six Tornado fighter aircraft and two Lynx helicopters to the SA Navy base in Simon’s Town to participate in the exercises.

The German ships and aircraft arrived on Monday and will refuel and stock up before next week’s training and missile-firing exercises.

Also planned for late February and early March are the mixed-group war games, anti-aircraft drills and anti-submarine exercises, including mock torpedo attacks.

The German vessels will also be on public display at the V&A Waterfront on March 1 and 2 and at the annual Navy Festival in Simon’s Town, to be held from March 14-16, before returning to Germany.

The SA Navy is contributing three frigates, a submarine, two strike craft, two minehunters, two inshore patrol vessels and a combat support vessel to the exercises. The SA Air Force is providing six Cheetah fighter aircraft and two Oryx helicopters.