The South African Navy & Marine and Coastal Management - Unofficial Site tag:navy.org.za,2005:Typo Typo 2007-09-03T19:38:55+00:00 admin urn:uuid:8a04fc79-e65f-481c-b498-cf1f0b0f1844 2007-09-03T19:37:00+00:00 2007-09-03T19:38:55+00:00

<p>Forget the blazing guns of yesteryear -- these days naval warfare is a high-tech and sophisticated operation.</p> <p>This became clear on Monday as an exercise involving Nato warships and the South African Navy got under way off the South African coast.</p> <p>On board the Portuguese Navy's Avaras Cabral, an Augusta Westland Helicopter similar to those carried by South African Navy frigates is loaded with sensors and other detection equipment.</p> <p>The ship is engaged in anti-submarine warfare.</p> <p>"Once we found the submarine we simply load the helicopter with a torpedo and drop it on the sub," Lieutenant Miguel Pinheiro Somoej explains. So much for looking the enemy in the eye, swinging a sword like the pirates of the olden days.</p>