Navy is sinking on current budget – vice-admiral

Chief of the South African Navy vice-admiral Mosiwa Hlongwane has told parliament that if the navy did not get the budget it was supposed to, it would be unable to deliver on its mandate.

Presenting the situation to the parliamentary joint standing committee on defence on navy sea hours and capacity constraints to effectively utilise naval assets, he delivered a sober message: if the low budget allocation remained, the navy would decline.

The navy’s key performance indicator was sea hours per year. Achieving targets for the number of hours at sea was dependent on the budget allocation, specifically the operating budget.

Due to capacity constraints, primarily due to the insufficient budget allocation, the navy was unable to achieve the planned sea hours. Hlongwane said the navy required a minimum of 12 000 hours (500 days) at sea per year to train sufficient personnel to keep vessels in the operating cycle.

But it was only resourced for 6 000 hours at sea, planned as follows: 1 680 hours (28%) for force preparation and 4 320 hours (72%) for force employment. Hlongwane said 6 000 hours were not sufficient to meet both force preparation and force employment requirements.

The average number of sea hours for the three years 201617 to 2018-19 was 7 294 hours, or 60.7% of the 12 000 hour annual target. Due to sustained underfunding and resulting backlogs in vessel refits and maintenance and repair, the navy had adjusted the planned number of hours at sea per year from 12 000 hours to just 10 000 hours with effect from the 2019-20 financial year.

By comparison, the target for the 2013-14 financial year was 22 000 hours, with only 11 081 hours achieved. “Should sea hours be reduced below 10 000 per year, the navy will decline rapidly,” Hlongwane said.

The full requirement to run the navy was R6.818 billion, but it only received R3.609 billion (52.9%), of which R2.495 billion (69.1%) was allocated to human resources, leaving R1.1 billion for the operating budget.

In addition, should mid-life refits not be executed, the navy would over the medium-term lose its frigate capability, then its submarine capability, leaving its patrol capability very restricted. – Defence Web