SADC wraps up “Blue Cluster”

By Leon Engelbrecht

Southern African Development Community (SADC) air forces wrapped up a major humanitarian assistance training endeavour, Exercise Blue Cluster, on Saturday. Nine of the SADC's 15 member states participated in the exercise held in the north-east of South Africa last week.

It was the latest in a string of joint and multinational SADC compatibility, interoperability and capability-building exercises held since 1997, when the inaugural undertaking, Blue Hungwe, was held in eastern Zimbabwe. Exercise coordinator Brigadier General (Brig Gen) John Bayne said the training was run in accordance with an approved SADC doctrine for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. As such, it focused on humanitarian support during a peacekeeping/peace enforcement exercise.

Bayne added that the exercise also allowed for the further development of a SADC multinational air power doctrine, a first draft of which should have been ready to accompany participating forces home over the weekend. It is hoped to have it approved and in effect before the next SADC joint force exercise.

South Africa, Angola, Botswana and Zimbabwe provided aircraft for the exercise, while Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and Zambia only sent personnel. Bayne further briefed that the exercise arose from a SADC decision taken in Maputo last year March. South African air assets deployed to AFB Makhado and Hoedspruit for the exercise included:
- 2 x Saab Gripen fighters
- 2 x BAE Systems Mk120 Hawk fighters
- 1 x Lockheed Martin C130BZ Hercules medium transports
- 2 x Airbus Military C212 light transports
- 1 x Douglas C47T electronic warfare aircraft
- 3 x Cessna C208 Caravan light utility transports
- 4 x Denel Oryx helicopters medium utility helicopters
- 1 x Sector Control Centre
- 5 x Static Radars

The Angolan National Air Force deployed
- 1 x Ilyushin IL76 “Candid” multi-purpose four-engined heavy/strategic airlifter

The Botswana Defence Force's Air Arm dispatched
- 2 x Eurocopter AS350 Squirrel LUH
- 1 x Bell 412 LUH
- 1 x Airbus Military C212 light transport
- 2 x Britten-Norman BN2B Islander light utility transport

And the Air Force of Zimbabwe sent
- 1 x Bell 412 LUH
- 2 x Hongdu K-8 Karakorum light fighters
- 1 x Airbus Military C212 light transport

This translated into 200 South African personnel and 24 from Angola, 42 from Botswana, four from Malawi, eight from Mozambique, 16 from Namibia, two from Tanzania, five from Zambia and 41 from Zimbabwe, giving a grand total of 342.

The SAAF director combat systems continued that each force paid its own cost. Objectives including improving regional cooperation in the field of humanitarian operations, to further develop, practice and evaluate SADC doctrine in the planning and execution of such operations and the development of SADC air component structures at the operational and tactical level. Blue Cluster also sought to exercise joint C3ISR (command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) and staff structures. Also exercised and updated was the protocol for overflight clearances as well as procedures for customs, excise and immigration.

Bayne noted planning took place from February to April this year. A command post exercise (CPX) was held from June 17-20 with the field exercise following August 21-27. This included training and mentoring for junior staff officers, exercise director SAAF Brig Gen TS Madumane added. An exercise control section was also created for these to simulate the SADC planning element and multinational joint task force's commander and operations centre to which multinational joint tactical headquarters (JTHQ) at AFB Hoedspruit would report. The control section also acted s evaluators and auditors, drawing up “lessons learned” for the future.

The JTHQ was tasked with the simulated provision of food supplies, water and clothing from imagined aid agencies to putative refugee concentrations in Limpopo that had been badly affected by floods in terms of the exercise scenario. Supplies were flown by fixed-wing aircraft from Hoedspruit to Makhado and there repackaged for forward flight to final destination by helicopter. The scenario also allowed for criminal and other disruptive elements – including poachers and “destabilisers” armed with light weapons, requiring limited close air support and combat air patrol as well as intelligence gathering and surveillance using suitable airborne platforms. To add spice to the exercise, the destabilisers from time to time fired notional RPGs or assault rifles at passing air assets.

SAAF Brig Gen Anton Kriegler noted that “flying is easy. It is not what we are here for.” Instead the focus was on integrating nine air forces with nine sets of personnel, procedures and equipment into a cohesive whole.

Speaking to assembled SADC air chiefs in Hoedspruit on Thursday, SAAF chief Lieutenant General Carlo Gagiano said the regional body had “sort of forced me to accept” the exercise, adding “I'm glad we did.” He thanked the air chiefs for providing forces and equipment. “It means a lot to me personally.” His Botswana counterpart, Major General Placid Segokga described the exercise as a success in an interview Thursday afternoon at AFB Waterkloof, saying it would help “erode mistrust” between SADC nations and build trust at the tactical level. Angolan air chief General Francisco Hanga added Angola would volunteer to host the next exercise in 2013. He also labelled Blue Cluster a success and noted the next exercise needed a more austere environment to make it both more difficult and more realistic.

Bayne agreed the next exercise could be more “adventurous” now that Blue Cluster has answered many of the compatibility and interoperability questions. Serviceability was also good, there were no major or even minor snags, AFZ Wing Commander Ezweni Masuku, JTHQ chief of staff, said. 3 Air Servicing Unit at Makhado was on standby but was not required. “This gives one confidence to go somewhere more remote,” Bayne said.

Source: defenceWeb