PRETORIA, January 9. /TASS/. The Will For Peace 2026 naval drills began in South Africa with the participation of several BRICS Plus countries, South African Defense and Military Veterans Ministry reported.

"The exercise is scheduled to take place on January 9-16, 2026, in South African territorial waters. It is a multinational maritime engagement with China serving as the lead nation," the ministry said in a post on its Facebook (a social media site banned in Russia since it is owned by Meta corporation classified as extremist by the Russian authorities). Pretoria has not yet named the full list of participants in the exercises, mentioning only China and South Africa, nor the total number of ships involved. South African media report that ships from Iran and Russia are also participating in Will For Peace 2026, while Indonesia and Ethiopia have observer status.

Participants now gather at the South African Navy's largest base in Simon's Town, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, close to the Cape of Good Hope and 40 kilometers south of Cape Town. The Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy's destroyer Tangshan and supply ship Taihu are already at the base.

The first phase of the drills will take place at the headquarters level, followed by a joint sortie of ships into the open ocean. According to the South African Defense Ministry, the theme of the exercises is "joint actions to ensure the safety of navigation and maritime economic activities." During the maneuvers, participants will practice operations to ensure safety at sea, operational compatibility actions, and measures to protect the sea.

The third Mosi ("Smoke") naval exercises, which were to be held in November near Cape Town, were initially planned to involve China, Russia, and South Africa. However, the exercises were postponed due to the G20 summit, which took place in Johannesburg at the end of November and was chaired by South Africa. Later, the decision was made to expand the number of participants in the drills and give them a new name.