The navy's portion of SA's defence packages will rejuvenate the fleet and restore the blue water capability lost with the last of the frigates in 1985.

The project, with the patrol corvettes and the submarines, is on schedule and budget, and the industrial-participation projects are well ahead of schedule, with contracts worth about 3,2bn of the more than $5bn to which the contractors are committed already in place.

But does SA really need these ships and submarines?

The answer is yes. The world has not become safer. SA needs a core defence capability to safeguard its interests and to build on in time of crisis, and it needs to meet its regional security obligations. One part of that is an effective navy.

The fundamental requirement was spelled out by President Thabo Mbeki at Davos in January last year. Having introduced the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad), he set out preconditions for it to be viable. The first was "creating peace, security and stability, and democratic governance, without which it would be impossible to engage in meaningful economic activity".

German strategist and retired admiral Ulrich Weisser gave the broader view at a recent seminar on maritime security: "A nation that is not able to protect its territory, that is not able to contribute to international efforts to maintain peace, that is not able and willing to take on an adequate responsibility for the fate and future of the respective region as a whole becomes the subject of policies of others, has no influence on decision-making and is looked on as a free rider."

SA is a regional power, has more than 40-million people, and has the 20th largest economy in the world (gross domestic product purchasing power parity). It is potentially a major actor in the international arena. That brings responsibilities, including regional security responsibilities.

Moving from the general to the specific: why naval capability?

SA has 2798km of coastline and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) 9719km, which gives SA an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of more than 1 million km² and the SADC as a whole an EEZ of over 3,6 million km². That EEZ contains valuable fish stocks and offshore diamonds, gas and oil; and is the route over which more than 90% of the region's imports and exports move.

Illegal fishing, drug and gun smuggling are some obvious reasons why SA needs to patrol its shores. Polluting ships are another. Less well known is the fact that piracy is on the rise in African waters: from 26 incidents in 1997, to 46 in 1999 and 98 in 2001, 83 of them south of the Sahara and 10 of them in SADC waters.

The four patrol corvettes will give the navy some capability to carry out that patrol function.

They will also enable SA and the SADC to establish and maintain a "presence" in an area in crisis without putting troops on the ground, demonstrating their willingness to intervene, if necessary.

Why, however, submarines?

Submarines have little apparent utility in peacetime. But their primary role is to discourage adventures in the region and to monitor the surrounding waters to ensure that peacetime remains peaceful. One submarine at sea is worth several surface ships. In times of peace, submarines can be used for law enforcement. Canada and Colombia have successfully employed submarines against illegal fishing and, in the latter case, against drug smugglers.

The time to lay the foundation for a navy is when the need is not immediate. These two projects are a good start.

Heitman is a Defence Consultant and SA correspondent for Jane's Defence Weekly.

With acknowledgements to Helmoed R Heitman and Business Day.