Exercise Good Hope III
Date: 18 March 2008
By Dean Wingrin
"Aircraft inbound, six miles"
"Starboard quarter, Strength two"
"Brace Brace Brace"
The crews of the SAS Amatola are manning their self-defence weapons as two German air force Tornado aircraft roar overhead, 100 ft above the sea, having only been a spec on the horizon minutes before. Lt. Cdr. Dieter Jones is the Operations Officer aboard the SAS Amatola and he has been keeping the crew briefed about the attack from within the Operations Room.
However, readers need not worry, as the attack was part of a series of exercises conducted between the South African (SAN) and German (Marine) navies, with the help of the South African Air Force (SAAF) and German air force (Luftwaffe). Exercise Good Hope III was held from 18 February to 18 March 2008 and was the fourth exercise between the two countries, involving over 1 800 personnel, 15 ships and 20 aircraft from both countries.
Exercise Good Hope III is a large-scale bi-national exercise, designed to enhance military co-operation by merging together the units of both countries to exercise all aspects of maritime warfare and seamanship. The majority of the tactical warfare, procedural and seamanship exercises took place around Cape Town, but live gunnery and missile firings was conducted at the Overberg Military Test Area near Bredasdorp and Arniston on the Cape south coast.
German participants
German Task Group 501.01 (TG 501.01) consists of four ships and is commanded by Captain (Navy) Michael Budde. Although the main emphasis of the task group is to integrate more than 220 cadets to make them familiar with all aspects of life and work at sea, TG 501.01 is scheduled to also conduct exercises with the navies of South Africa, India and a joint European force.
TG 501.01 is made up of the frigates FGS Hamburg (F220) and FGS Köln (F211), combat support ship FGS Berlin (A1411) and the supply vessel FGS Westerwald (A1435). The Hamburg is the largest warship in the German navy. Included in TG 501.01 are two Lynx Mk 88A shipborne helicopters. These helicopters operated from AFB Overberg, although one was also seen aboard FGS Köln.
As with Exercise Good Hope II held in 2006, the Luftwaffe contributed six Tornados IDS of Tactical Reconnaissance Wing 51 (Immelman). The aircraft arrived at AFB Overberg in the southern Cape on 24 February. The route involved flying from their home base at Schleswig-Jagel in northern Germany to AscensioAccession Island in the Atlantic via Grand Canaria (Canary Islands). They then enlisted the help of two USAF KC-10A Extenders who provided in-flight refueling facilities for the flight from Ascension Island to AFB Overberg. The route was flown in two three-ship formations.
The Luftwaffe Air Component Commander was Oberstleutnant (Lt Col) Karsten Stoye of TRW 51.
The South African participants
The South African contingent consisted of a large number of naval, air and support structures. The SAN was represented by the frigates SAS Amatola (F145) and SAS Spioenkop (F147), the strike craft SAS Galeshewe (P1567) and SAS Isaac Dyobha (P1565), the mine countermeasure vessel SAS Umzimkulu, the inshore patrol boat SAS Tobie (P1552) and the combat support ship SAS Drakensberg.
Participating in their last major exercise prior to their retirement were seven Cheetah C and one Cheetah D aircraft from 2 Squadron, supplemented by a Test Flight and Development Centre (TFDC) Cheetah C. These aircraft started arriving at AFB Overberg on 18 February. 22 Squadron provided three Oryx helicopters, while 35 Squadron flew a C-47TP maritime patrol aircraft. A C208 Caravan of 41 Squadron was also used, as was another Oryx based at TFDC.
Other SAAF assets used included a Mobile Sector Control Centre (MSCC), a Tactical Mobile Radar (TMR, based on the Marconi S711) and a Mobile Communications Unit (MCU). This ensured that all radar emissions (from shore units, aircraft and ships) were incorporated into a single air picture.
Colonel Norman Minne was the Air Component Commander for the SAAF.
AFB Overberg was used extensively during Ex Good Hope III. Col. Minne said that besides the based Cheetah and Tornado fleet, the base also provided debriefing, control and radar picture facilities, Search and Rescue (SAR) and ship-shore logistics.
Although the new Super Lynx 300 Mk 64 of 22 Squadron was not formally tasked to take part in the exercises, a SAN objective was to conduct Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) of the Super Lynx on the Valour class frigates. SAS Isandlewana (F146) was used for this purpose.
Personnel from the Overberg Test Range were used to provide telemetry on the missiles that were fired during the exercise.
Wargames
The two countries combined their forces and thus it was not the case of country against the other. Col. Minne did say, however, that the Cheetah would take the opportunity to perform Dissimilar Air Combat training with the Tornado.
The exercise itself was broken into a number of phases. Phase I consisted of one week of preparation in Simon's Town Naval Base. Missile firings off the coast of the southern Cape and general procedural and seamanship exercises were the order of the day for Phase II. This was followed by a tactical phase during which exercises, including further missile firings, were conducted off both Cape Town and the southern Cape.
Exercises that were successfully completed included maneuvering in close proximity, Replenishment at Sea (RAS), helicopter operations, anti-submarine and air defence drills. However, the most exciting was when the Germans launched the Kormoran, Sea Skua and Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM). Not to be outdone, the SAN also launched the Umkhonto vertically launched surface-to-air missile and the Cheetah also fired some missiles.
The Umkhonto, Sea Skua and ESSM were fired from the ships at targets launched from shore and the ships, while the Tornados fired the Kormoran anti-ship missiles at fleet targets.
The standard procedure for firing the Kormoran missile is for the Tornado to approach the target, a non-moving sea target deployed by FGS Westerwald, at low-level. The missile would be fired at a point just outside visual range before the Tornado would break away from the attack, leaving the missile to continue towards the target. During the exercise, the Tornado and Cheetah would often not launch a missile, but would fly a simulated profile of low-level flight followed by a pitch-up and dive onto the ships. In this way, the ships sensors would continue to track the incoming ‘missile' and respond accordingly.
The ESSM was fired by FGS Hamburg at a moving target called the Hammerhead and at DO-DT 45 flying drones. The Hammerhead was deployed and controlled by the FGS Berlin, while the drone was launched and controlled by the Overberg Test Range.
The Sea Skua was fired by the German Lynx at a non-moving target at sea deployed by FGS Westerwald.
Lessons Learnt
After completion of Phase IV of the joint exercises on 14 March, all involved analysed the experiences of the past few weeks.
Ex Good Hope III was a huge success, but nothing is perfect. According to Rear Admiral Hanno Teuteberg, SAN Director of Fleet Force Preparation, some of the problems identified included difficulties in close-in communications due to the two navies operating different communication systems and the lack of experience in RAS as the SAS Drakensberg has no RAS capabilities.
Of great importance to both the SAAF and the SAN was that the Super Lynx was qualified for both day and night operations from the Valour class frigates and the SAS Drakensberg.
As TG 501.01 departed Cape Town for India, via Mauritius, on 18 March, planning for Ex Good Hope IV was already under way.
