Navy orders submarine weapon control unit spares

The South African Navy is buying unspecified weapon control unit spare parts for its fleet of three Heroine-class Type 209 diesel-electric attack submarines (SSK). The deal, worth R5 826 188.24, was awarded to Cybicom Atlas Defence last week and follows a number of other spares orders for the subsurface fleet in recent months. 

This includes the procurement of optronic “submarines depot spares” from Carl Zeiss Optronics worth R3.9 million last month and the acquisition of spare pneumatic cam switching devices worth R1.3 million from Siemens Ltd in May.  


Source : http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17239:navy-orders-submarine-weapon-control-unit-spares-&catid=51:Sea&Itemid=106

Navy contracts for new frigate optical radar trackers

The South African Navy has awarded Reutech Radar Systems a R8.417 million contract to research and development a replacement optical radar tracker (ORT) for the sea service's Valour-class frigates. Each of the four in commission is fitted with one ORT and one electro-optical tracker (EOT). The contract follows a R1.995 million contract awarded in January. 

The company declined to comment on the nature of the work, but defence analyst Helmoed-Römer Heitman says the deal is probably “partly an upgrade and partly a replacement of the laser range-finders, which I gather did not perform as well as hoped. That is an issue of which frequency is best in the most likely conditions.”
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SADC defence chiefs to talk maritime security next week

The chiefs of the armed forces of the Southern African Development Community will be meeting next week in South Africa to discuss a maritime safety strategy for the regional bloc in light of the increased probability of piracy and other crime at sea in its territorial and adjacent waters. 

“The South African government will work with all SADC countries to fight piracy, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Lindiwe Sisulu said yesterday at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on piracy and trans-border crime. “ This is our obligation to ensure smooth movement of goods in the SADC waters. We continue to work with all SADC countries and institutions to address piracy,” Sisulu said in Pretoria. 

 

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Navy frigate on South Atlantic rescue mission

The South African Navy has deployed a frigate to Tristan da Cunha island in the South Atlantic ocean to provide medical support to a Taiwanese fishing vessel. The Department of Defence says the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) asked the South African National Defence Force to conduct a search-and-rescue operation after a gas explosion on a fishing vessel on Friday.

The department said the Navy deployed the SAS Islandlwana to Tristan Da Cunha on Tuesday with teams from the South African Air Force, the South African Military Health Service and other state security departments aboard. They will provide medical care to injured crew members and transport them all to South Africa. The ship is expected back on May 12.

Navy cranking up for Biro?

The South African Navy has issued the Institute for Maritime Technology (IMT) in Simon's Town a request for quotation (RFQ) for “strategic technology and engineering support services during the project study phase of the acquisition of a multi-mission patrol capability...”

The RFQ, EMTM/2011/16, was issued last week Monday with a closing date of May 9. 

Cabinet last week seemingly approved the South African Navy's maritime security strategy, although the wording in a statement announcing the move was ambiguous. Government spokesman Jimmy Manyi said Cabinet Wednesday “approved that the South African Defence Force [sic] should fine-tune its strategy to protect our waters from piracy.”

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Navy orders Umkhonto resupply

The South African Navy (SAN) has ordered what appears to be a R42 million resupply of Umkhonto surface-to-air missiles (SAM) for its Valour-class frigates. The order, for R41 986 000, was placed last week Thursday. 

South Africa in November 2005 joined a handful of nations to have fielded a functional operational anti-missile air defence systems with the successful firing of the Umkhonto-IR from aboard the Valour-class frigate SAS Amatola. Since then the SA Navy has regularly fired the 125kg, 12km-range weapon that carries a 23kg warhead, most recently this year during Exercise Good Hope IV, a joint multinational undertaking with German, where the missile was also successfully fired against a surface target. “We heard it went very well,” Denel Dynamics CE Jan Wessels told defenceWeb in April last year. “The system has now been in service with the Navy for three years and all the feedback we get is very positive, it is really performing as advertised and more.” 

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IMT providing submarine torpedo support

The Institute for Maritime Technology (IMT), part of the Armscor Defence Institutes, has been awarded a R3 million contract to provide undisclosed submarine underwater torpedo support services to the South African Navy.

The IMT is located just south of Simon's Town harbour, the country's main naval base. The work was awarded last week and appears to be the second such contract in six month. A R307 955.83 deal was announced in late September last year. 

The AEG SUT 264 heavyweight torpedo is the main weapon of the Manthatisi-class diesel-electric submarine fleet of the SA Navy. 

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BAE Systems enhances capability of South African Hawk

WARTON, (UK): BAE Systems has completed work to upgrade the navigation and weapons system for the South African Air Force’s fleet of Hawk jet trainers.

The software and hardware upgrade, jointly developed with long term South African partner Advanced Technologies and Engineering, will enable the Hawk Mk120 to share simulated radar data across multiple platforms, a company statement said.

For example, the South African Hawk Mk120 can see the same data as the South African Air Force Gripen and South African Navy Corvette frigate whilst on a training sortie.

Tanzania asks SA for anti-pirate help

Tanzania has requested South Africa to assist it in fighting piracy, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Lindiwe Sisulu says. 

“I am informed that the Government has received a request from Tanzania, through the Department of International Relations and Co-operation, which has been forwarded to the Department of Defence,” she said in an oral reply to a question by National Council of Provinces member RA Lees.

“The matter has subsequently been referred to the acting Chief of the National Defence Force so that he may advice the Minister, and the Minister may advice the Cabinet. Currently the matter is under consideration.”

SAMSA talks jobs

The South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) has forecast that it will be able to create 1800 jobs in the sector over the next year.

Critical to meeting that target was a cadet training programme, which would be done through the South African Maritime Training Academy in partnership with the private sector. The announcement was made in Cape Town this week by Samsa chief executive, Tsietsi Mokhele, who highlighted that they were responding to the government's focus on job creation.

Mokhele said that as part of a mandate from government, they had developed a strategy to improve the country's maritime economy, but a major drawback had been the lack of skills in the sector in both sea and shore based human resources, the state BuaNews agency says. This, he said, had contributed to the drop in active shipping companies in South Africa. Mokhele said the training programme had the potential "to double or triple job creation in the sector."

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IMT gets R2.5m for AUV

The South African Navy has awarded Armscor Defence Institutes subsidiary Institute for Maritime Technology a R2.582 million contract to develop autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) technology “as per the approved project definition.” The work was awarded last Thursday. 

The SA Navy has a requirement for a number of AUV, including for four offboard minehunting systems in term of Project Mapantsula. It is not clear from the information available what the purpose of the work is. 

Navy issues R208m in contracts

The South African Navy has awarded contracts worth R208.3 million to various concerns to upgrade its capabilities. This includes a R27.5 million contract for Reutech Solutions to maintain and support tracker systems aboard the Valour-class MEKO A200SAN frigates. 

Also awarded Thursday was a maintenance and support services contract for electronic warfare systems for “all vessels”, worth R58.8 million to SAAB Grintek Defence; and a maintenance and support services deal for exterior and interior communication systems for the Navy. The latter, awarded to Reutech Solutions, Thursday, is worth a further R57 million. The fourth of the four contracts awarded is for the maintenance and support “of the propulsion plant general propulsion units for the SA Navy”. This was awarded to MTU in February and is worth R65 million to the German company's local operation. 

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Science and technology are the solutions to Africa’s maritime security shortcomings - report

Africa’s long coastline and strategic location on the borders of the world’s major sea lanes pose a challenge to maritime security efforts. A new report issued by the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies outlines some of the maritime threats challenging Africa as well as the global community, from smuggling to piracy, and suggests that science and technology can help solve these problems.

Security, economic and humanitarian interests, including long-term access to energy, are all at risk from Africa’s lack of adequate maritime security. “The threats coming up the West African coast really have an enormous potential for huge instability,” General James Jones (ret.) told IPS News late last year. Jones served as US President Barack Obama's national security adviser.

Naval acquisitions to start in 2013

The National Treasury will fund the acquisition of new ships for the South African Navy from the 2013/14 financial ycar. The parsimonious keeper of the national purse says in its Estimates of National Expenditure, released last month, pencilled in a 52.3% increase in the Maritime Combat Capability subprogramme for the year starting April 2013.

The budget boost will provide “for the replacement of the offshore and inshore patrol vessels [Project Biro], procurement of new harbour tugs and the replacement of small boats. This is also the reason for the increase of 73.9% in “transfers and subsidies” in 2013/14.” The latter will spike from R406.5 million in the April 2011 year to R603.7 million in April 2013 and the former to R803.9 million from R570.9 million. 

SAS Assegaai exhibit opened at Naval Museum

Flag Officer Fleet Rear Admiral Philip Schöultz will tomorrow officially open the SA Naval Museum Submarine SAS Assegaai. 

The SAS Assegaai (formerly SAS Johanna van der Merwe), the third of three Daphne Class submarine built in France for the SA Navy, was commissioned in 1971. She served her country well and with the acquisition of three new Type 209 submarines, decommissioned in November 2003. Unlike her two sisters which were cut up for scrap, she was retained for preservation as a museum exhibit at the SA Naval Museum.

SA to join counter-piracy fight

Cabinet has tasked Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Lindiwe Sisulu with developing a strategy to address the threat of piracy in Southern African waters. Sisulu told a media briefing his morning the Valour-class frigate SAS Mendi was already off Mozambique informally collecting information on piracy and cooperating with authorities there “to ensure maritime security in Southern African waters. 

Government spokesman Jimmy Manyi at a post-Cabinet media briefing earlier said the executive had “noted the increasing threat of piracy in South African waters and agreed to explore initiatives aimed at assisting Somalia to counter some of the root causes of piracy.

SA sub exercises with US frigate

The Heroine-class submarine SAS Charlotte Maxeke (S-102) has exercises with the US Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Stephen W. Groves (FFG 29) off the South African coast. 

The US Africa Command (AFRICOM) says on its website the exercise, last week, was part of a series of joint-training operations between South African and US navies. Commander Matthew Rick, commanding officer of the Stephen W. Groves, told the AFRICOM news service that the exercise allowed his crew to test their ability to deal with real-life situations they might face during their military career.

Republic of South Africa dispatched first ship to fight piracy

Republic of South Africa sent the first warship to counter piracy in the Mozambique Channel, reported broadcasting corporation SABC on Feb 13. 

Frigate Mendi will join other 5 frigates and 18 smaller warships in the anti-piracy campaign. 

In Dec 2010 Somali pirates failed to capture two vessels in the Mozambique Channel which was their southernmost assault. 

According to International Maritime Bureau, Somali pirates currently hold 31 vessels and 700 hostages.

Military mum on Mendi

The military is remaining mum on the deployment of the Valour-class frigate SAS Mendi to Durban for operational training in reported anticipation of an anti-pirate patrol in the Mozambique channel. 

Th Afrikaans daily Beeld this week reported the deployment was being held up by the absence of a signed Memorandum of Understaning setting out rules of engagement. Minister of Defence and Military Veterans last year July told a small group of journalists, including defenceWeb, that her deputy, Thabang Makwetla, had that month attended a Southern African Development Community (SADC) conference in the Seychelles. There “we did commit ourselves to protecting the waters around SADC from piracy.” She added: “We are ready to deploy in SADC waters because it is part of our responsibility.”