Corvettes Enable SA to Join Navy 'Club' [Cape Argus, 2005-10-26]

Publication: Cape Argus Issued: Date: 2005-10-26 Reporter:

Corvettes Enable SA to Join Navy 'Club'

Publication	Cape Argus
Date	2005-10-26
Web Link	www.capeargus.co.za

Rear Admiral Junior Grade Jonathan Kamerman believes the four corvettes acquired by the South African Navy in 2003 as part of the controversial arms deal were not just pieces of steel, but floating embassies *1.

As navy delegates from around the world met for the MEKO User Workshop 2005 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Kamerman said: "We have a lot of growth potential without expensive engineering. These vessels allow us to rapidly expand should the need arise, but let's hope it doesn't."

The conference is a forum for nations that possess technology from the German company, Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems AG. South Africa is the latest addition to the club.

Kamerman dismissed the idea that country at peace *2 had no use for corvettes *3. "The Navy has the unique capacity *4 to project a nation's diplomatic strength without violating anyone's border. It's not just a piece of steel, it's an embassy."

He said the conference was an important event for a country that was not a member of an international body such as Nato, and he was eager to see more co-operation between the 12 nations taking part.

Argentina, Australia, Germany, Greece, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal and Turkey were all expected to trade technological and logistical information with South Africa.

With acknowledgement to the Cape Argus.

*1 Classification of Characteristics

Within the rules of the good ole, bad ole days of system engineering in the mid-80s and early 90s, it would have been a case of Classification of Characteristics as follows :

Critical

Provide Floating Embassy

Provide wooden dance floor to facilitate toyi-toying by Chiefs of National Defence Forces, Friends, Benefactors and Beneficiaries

Major

Provide Growth Potential

Provide means for diplomatically strong penetration of foreign borders without violence

Minor

Patrol Sea Lines of Control

Defend Self and Consort from Air Attack

FMECA

Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) would have been equally interesting :

Wine Chiller in ambassadorial state room fails to regulate at 12 Celsius - catastrophic
Whistle for piping aboard the Admiral, Captain and their new found diplomatic friends, becomes clogged with dried spittle - critical
76 mm Medium Gun Weapon (MGW) jams precluding the firing of 21-round salutes - major
35 mm Dual Purpose Gun (DPG) jams precluding self-protection in the littoral zone crawling with undiplomatic Somali pirates - minor
Realisation of the empty state of half the compliment of Surface-to-Surface Missile (SSM) launchers - no cause for concern
Realisation of the empty state of half the compliment of Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) tubes - also no cause for concern
Lack of an aft tracking radar - also no cause for concern
a small to medium sized blind spot to aft for the surveillance radar - also no cause for concern

*3 Just the other day there was an urgent and critical need for a blue water navy with nine light frigates, then six light frigates, then just four patrol corvettes.

*2 What a peace dividend indeed - well done Ronnie Reagan.

*4 Revelation at last - the reason why the SA Navy didn't need the FDDI databus that it had been developing since 1990 and that had in 1993 been stipulated for use in all future SA Navy systems.