'Much of the hardware that we had been operating was becoming obsolete and expensive to maintain.' He states that part of the navy's current outlook has been to reduce its footprint with the view to reduce costs, to be better streamlined, and to integrate the new vessels that the navy has procured.

Wise points out that the new vessels have introduced new technologies in the navy and this, he says, provides young people with exciting new opportunities.

'But because of the training required for the advanced technology used in these vessels, it will take some time before they are fully integrated into the navy,' he explains.

The navy would also like to make itself more relevant in the regional context to help uplift our neighbours. According to Wise, the navy has a peace-support contingency in Burundi performing a constabu- lary role.

The navy has now procured four Corvettes from Germany built by the Blohm & Vos shipbuilders - two built in Kiel, the other two in Hamburg - and all four have already arrived in South Africa.

Wise enthuses that the SAS Amatola has completed its weapons fit-out and sea acceptance trials, and the commissioned vessel will have been handed over to the South African Navy by the contractors on February 16 this year, after which it will be commissioned into the navy.

He hopes that, by the end of the year, the remaining three Corvettes will too have completed their weapons installations and sea acceptance trials, and will be ready for delivery to the navy.

The navy is also to receive three Type 209 1400 submarines built by the German shipyard, HDW, the first one being built in Kiel and the remaining two being built in Thuyssen Emden.

'The first submarine is currently in Germany undergoing trials and the workup of its crew in preparation of its voyage to South Africa, arrival scheduled for April this year,' Wise says.

The arrival date had to be rescheduled owing to a technical mal- function that necessitated that the vessel return to Germany, upon which Wise could not comment.

But he does confirm that the SAS Drakensberg is on its way to Germany, from where it will escort the Type 209 submarine to South Africa.

Part of the Corvette procurement package, he reports, are the Super Lynx 300 Maritime helicopters, ordered from Westland in the UK.

He adds that this programme is well under way and on track, and the helicopters should arrive in South Africa in 2007 when they will be integrated with the Corvettes.

Interestingly, Wise mentions that the navy is too small to operate its own helicopters, this job being assigned to the Air Force.

The challenges that the navy is currently facing include fully integrating the new strategic-defence packages and achieving the required operational levels of these new vessels.

'We like to see ourselves as a benchmark for other small navies in the world,' he states.

'We also strive to maintain the highest calibre and quality of personnel in the engineering field as well as the combat environment, representative of the demographics of the country.' To achieve this, the navy runs, within the Defence Force, a military skills programme where it recruits young people into the navy for a two-year period, over which they are given military and life-skills training.

At the end of the two-year period the Navy offers employment contracts to those of the group they require and the rest enter civil society, remaining part of the reserve force.

'The skills that they acquire through our training help them to get jobs outside the navy,' Wise says.

Over the past 10 to 15 years, the navy has significantly reduced in size, without losing ground in efficiency owing to the advantages of obtaining new equipment.

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