Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

The South African Navy has confirmed that it is interested in buying more ships, but says this would be done in terms of plans laid down in the official Defence Force Review.

The Navy was responding to reports today that its new frigates and submarines were not the right tools for the task and that the Navy had to splash out billions of rands more to obtain new patrol vessels.

The report was based on a research paper written by a student officer at the SANDF Warfare School in 2003.

The document did not have any official standing in the Navy, Rear Admiral Bernard Teuteberg, the Navy’s director of maritime strategy, told the Cape Argus today.

Teuteberg said the official Defence Force Review actually made provision for the systematic acquisition for a variety of vessels meant to perform different tasks.

The Navy’s frigates and submarines were also obtained in terms of the review and were the first vessels to be purchased, he pointed out.

“The review was done by democratic government pro-cesses and it allows for the acquisition of vessels for specific tasks.

“At the time the officer did his paper, we had only just begun to take possession of the frigates and we had no submarines in commission. That was five years ago.

“Since then, the Navy has made huge progress. Our new vessels are operational and operating as required.

“No other navy of a similar size as ours has been able to integrate new frigates and submarines into their system in five years.

“We did, within budget and on time.”

But Teuteberg pointed out that one had to use the right tool for a specific job.

“Just as you cannot use a combine harvester to plough, a frigate is not designed to take mine counter-measures or do inshore or short distance patrols.

“The frigates are meant to patrol the extremities of our economic zone and are meant to be able to stay at sea for long periods.

“Our current minesweepers are 50 years old and the mine hunters 30.

“We have also always doubled up with them to do intermediate patrols as well.

“These vessels are among those that need to be replaced.

“It has everything to do with having a balanced force,” he said.

Teuteberg explained that papers written by warfare school students were important research projects to allow students to develop their thinking.

“We give them a wide variety of subjects and they are not restricted in any way.

“The paper in question was a very good one; it was refereed by a senior officer and I am told the officer got very good marks for it,” he said.

“But the fact is that it is by now out-of-date and is not an official policy document.”

Teuteberg said that while the reports today suggested there should have been a choice between the frigates and submarines on the one side and the smaller patrol vessels on the other, the reality was that they were required for different tasks.