The South African Navy Type 209 submarine SAS Charlotte Maxeke
Picture: Daily Dispatch

The South African Navy has unveiled a new periscope simulator system to train submariners, built with the help of defence industrial Cybicom Atlas Defence.

The simulator, which will also help the navy research and develop new technology for its submarines, is a result of collaboration between the navy and the defence industry that started during the acquisition of South Africa’s Type 209 submarines, first ordered from Germany in 2000.

Inaugurating the state-of-the-art facility in Simon’s Town in the Western Cape on Thursday, navy chief V-Adm Johannes Mudimu said it was a world-class platform for testing the nation’s submarine hardware and software.

"It is a clear demonstration of the value in ... defence industrial participation and the partnership between government sectors and the industry," he said.

Volker Paltzo, MD of Cybicom Atlas Defence, said the simulator would be employed to train submariners in the use of the Zeiss Sero 400 attack periscope of the navy’s submarines. It provides an accurate simulation of the use of the periscope in acquiring and tracking targets such as ships, aircraft or even a person in the water.

"Its development signals the true transfer of technology and skills to locals since the submarine acquisition programme in Germany a couple of years ago," Mr Paltzo said.

The simulator can present a range of tricky weather conditions, including high seas, rain, fog and various degrees of cloud cover. It can also imitate a submarine’s movement through the water.

It comprises a replica of the attack periscope, suspended from the ceiling of the training room, with the same controls, motion and functionality of the real unit, and an instructor workstation. Student sailors and submariners will be able to use real images of the vessels traversing the harbour to test their skills.

Cybicom Atlas Defence has also developed a helicopter flight-deck training simulator, which is a safe and cost-effective way of training flight-deck personnel. The system, which is aimed at navies, coast guards and companies operating offshore platforms, uses both commercial motion-tracking hardware and gesture-recognition software.

With acknowledgement to Hopewell Radebe and Business Day.

Wow, just 13 years later.