Simon’s Town, home port to the South African Navy submarine component, has hosted the first joint operational sea training for underwater craft with India.
The two-week training session included collaboration in establishing what South African Chief Petty Officer Nkululeko Zulu termed a “block training programme,” according to defenceWeb. It was designed to test and evaluate the operational readiness of submarine platforms in service with both navies.
“The collaboration between the Indian and [South African] Navy for work-up of ships and submariners has shown immense progress in the last two years,” Indian Rear Adm. Srinivas Maddula told Sailors after training, defenceWeb reported. “The enthusiasm, determination and willingness of crews to adapt has been truly commendable. During this training period, we have not only reinforced your operational skills but have also strengthened the work culture and camaraderie between our two navies.”
South Africa is one of the few countries on the continent with a submarine fleet. However, its three submarines reportedly are out of service for maintenance.
The submarine sea training comes after India and South Africa signed an agreement in 2024 on submarine rescue cooperation. India has agreed to deploy one of its two deep submergence rescue vehicles to aid the South African Navy as needed. That agreement gives the South African Navy a deep-water rescue capability it did not previously have with only the South African-designed and built tower escape safety system available to submariners.
This tower escape system allows for two submarine crew members at a time to climb into the conning tower of their ship, wait for the tower to be flooded and then rise to the surface. The tower is then refilled with air, ready for the next two escapees. The current system was first tested in 2019 from a depth of 20 meters, according to Naval News.
India and South Africa have a history of frequent high-level military visits, training exchanges, military exercises and exchanging best practices. Indian Navy warships also regularly visit South Africa, and the Indian Navy took part in Exercise Ibsamar in October 2024 off Saldanha with South Africa and Brazil.