The Amatola Mountains were the site of a series of bloody frontier skirmishes in the 1820s between the Xhosa and the colonial forces under Lord Charles Somerset. Thirty years later the mountains of the Ngqika were lost to colonial conquest in spite of the fierce resistance put up by the fighters of Sandile and Maqoma.

This week, the namesake of those historic mountains, the SAS Amatola, the first of four new South African navy patrol corvettes, arrived in Simon's Town. Its sister Valour-class ships - Isandlwana, Spioen Kop and Mendi - will be arriving at four-monthly intervals from their German shipyard.

The Amatola will now be fitted with its electronic combat suite (the selection of which is still the subject of litigation) along with its missiles and other armaments.

These vessels will replace the four remaining Warrior-class strikecraft still in navy service. The intention is for the corvettes to patrol South Africa's 3000km-long coastline and more than 1 million square kilometre exclusive economic zone. More than 120m in length and 16m in the beam, they are large enough to withstand the buffeting of the rough southern oceans.

They have a patrol range of more than 10 000km, while the Lynx helicopter to be carried aboard will expand their search capabilities several times over. But these vessels will likely also carry out an important role of "defence diplomacy", projecting a First World naval and defence capability in sync with the government's commitment to African regeneration.

For, at 3 600 tons this is more vessel than South Africa probably can use. It is a misnomer - though no doubt more politically palatable - to describe it as a patrol corvette, since it is really a frigate - a fully-fledged Nato-specification "Frigate, Small Guided Missile".

Its sophistication is more than skin deep. Below the futuristic radar-stealthy features, a combined propeller and water-jet diesel and gas turbine propulsion system allows it to cruise at 24 knots, a sprint to a top speed of 30.

Yet the high basic costs of a vessel this size and complexity meant that corners had to be cut and costs saved in other areas. For one, the weapons' fit is not exactly state of the art. The corvette will use a combination of the Oto-Melara 76mm gun from the strike-craft, 16 vertically launched, locally produced Umkhonto surface-to-air missiles, a twin 35mm gun and eight surface-to-surface Exocet missiles.

If more funds had been available, preference would have been for a larger main gun and a more modern missile system. The Exocet first made its combat name more than two decades ago in the Falklands Malvinas War. The vessels and their helicopters will also lack an offensive anti-submarine warfare capability, being fitted for, but not with, anti-submarine torpedoes.

The build quality of the Amatola is superb, to be expected from a German shipyard with hundreds of years of experience. The Amatola was built on the same slipway in Hamburg as the famous Second World War battleship Bismarck.

Yet there are some design oversights that may hinder its intended African diplomatic operations, particularly the absence of a bow-thruster, making the use of two tugs obligatory for docking. These are likely to be hard to find in many African ports.

More critically still, the Amatola does not have the space to carry more than a small number of additional personnel for operations - such as special forces - probably no more than 20. This highlights the importance of the right force mix of vessels. Big, expensive-to-operate ships of this sort should not be sent out for mundane patrol errands. Or for close-offshore operations that rather require large, low-technology amphibious vessel carrying troops, helicopters and supplies.

Without these capabilities, joint, inter-service operations - of the sort that African peacekeeping demands - will remain difficult.

Modern technologies of the past 20 years have trimmed the crew of a vessel this size from over 250 to 117. The Amatola carries 110 navy and seven air force personnel. The engine room, fuel storage, pumping and damage control functions can all be monitored from a single computer consol and the software equivalent of "Navy for Windows 2003".

In a strange quirk of history, a direct descendant of Lord Somerset - who fought those 19th century wars in the Amatola mountains - is the Amatola's chief engineer today.

Small crews are cost-efficient, but mean there is little duplication in individual roles and no place for slackers. The Amatola's current skeleton crew made a good start by passing the ship's safety training course in a record eight days. But the high level of skills required means that finding even this low number of crew will present some problems for the navy.

High skills are not abundant in a navy still making the difficult transition between the old navy driven by apartheid isolation - and therefore equipped perforce by vessels such as the strike craft - and the high-tech navy of tomorrow, represented by the Valour-class of ships.

Attractive packages will have to be offered to ensure that the navy, like the other arms of service, not only recruits the right calibre of men and women, but also retains them.

The other three will be arriving in Simon's Town next year and will be followed by three new Type 209 submarines from 2006.

The last of the three Daphne-class boats is to be decommissioned at the end of this month.

Totalling more than R15 billion, the new fleet is a costly commitment by South Africa's politicians to their ambitious foreign policy posture. It is akin to a middle-class family buying a luxury car even though its running costs may be beyond them. If it is made to work, our leadership will have to deploy it and provide the finances to keep it operational.

Dr Greg Mills is the national director of the SA Institute of International Affairs and co-author of three books on the SA navy and one on naval strategy.

With acknowledgements to Greg Mills and the Sunday Independent.