SA Navy gets second submarine
Shaun Benton
30 April 2007The second of the South African Navy's three new submarines, the SAS Charlotte Maxeke, arrived at its home base in Simonstown outside Cape Town on Thursday.
The submarine travelled directly to Simonstown from the port of Rota in Spain, following its launch from Emden in Germany, escorted by the SA Navy's combat support vessel, the SAS Drakensberg.
Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said the submarine's arrival was another milestone in the re-equipping of the South African National Defence Force and welcomed the 30-member crew, referring to them as the "cream of the crop".
ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems manufactured the diesel-electric submarine in German naval shipyards at Emden.
According to ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems spokesperson Stephen Laufer, the total cost of the three submarines is €660-million, a price that includes the intensive training of the submariners and ongoing logistical support.
Lekota said the training was needed due the nature of the technologically advanced submarines, which come equipped with "some of the best underwater sensor and weapon systems in the world".
"The development of technological expertise and the retention of scarce skills is not only important but fundamental to the accomplishment of our strategic objectives," he said.
With a coastline that stretches around 3 000 kilometres, Lekota said that the primary role of the submarines was to defend South Africa's interests and territorial integrity.
However, their role was "far greater", he said, as they brought "to the region and the African continent a significant strategic deterrent capability".
He added that the submarines, together with the four new MEKO-class frigates already present at Simonstown, had strengthened the capabilities of the navy, enhancing South Africa's regional reach and providing security for the entire Southern African Development Community.
"It is our opinion that the contribution of extra-continental role-players in this arena will continue to reduce," Lekota said.
The first submarine, the S101, arrived at Simonstown - where all three submarines are to be based - in April 2006, and the third and last submarine is expected in April 2008.
Source: BuaNews
