Between 10 and 15 August 2026, military planners from the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) gathered in Gaborone alongside counterparts from the United States Africa Command (US AFRICOM), the North Carolina National Guard (NCNG), and the United States Space Force (USSF) for a significant exercise.
The occasion was Exercise Southern Accord 2026, a biennial military exercise designed to improve cooperation, information sharing, and readiness between the participating forces.
Unlike exercises centred on soldiers, vehicles, and live-fire drills, this year’s exercise focused largely on planning. Participants worked through a fictional security crisis that required military, intelligence, cyber, space, and civilian agencies to respond together.
The exercise was held mainly at Gaborone Technical College and brought different capabilities into one planning structure. This included defensive cyber operations, intelligence analysis, space-related capabilities, government agencies, and civilian partners.
For Botswana, the exercise offered an opportunity to test how its military and government institutions could respond to modern security challenges. It also provided further insight into the country’s growing defence relationship with the United States and its role within the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Shifting from Field Training to Joint Planning
Southern Accord 2026 was primarily a command-post and planning exercise. Rather than deploying large numbers of troops for battlefield drills, the exercise focused on how military leaders make decisions, share information, and coordinate a response to a complex crisis.
The Botswana Defence Force and US personnel worked through joint planning processes covering logistics, intelligence, communications, cyber security, and operational decision-making.
The exercise also introduced a stronger focus on cyber and space capabilities. Cyber teams responded to simulated attacks on military networks, while space specialists helped planners understand how satellite-based capabilities could support operations on the ground.
For the first time, the United States Space Force took part directly in the Southern Accord exercise in Botswana.
The exercise also involved representatives from Botswana government ministries, civilian agencies, and media liaison teams. Their participation reflected the reality that major security emergencies often require more than a military response.
A cyber attack, for example, could affect government services, financial institutions, communications, or other critical systems. A natural disaster could require military transport and logistics while civilian agencies manage relief efforts.
Effectively, the exercise focused on bringing these different actors together before a real crisis occurs.
Deputy Exercise Director, US Air Force Colonel Anthony Sullins, said during the closing ceremony on 15 August that the exercise challenged participants to apply emerging concepts in cyber defence and space operations within a single planning structure.
For Botswana, the key lesson was that different capabilities need to work together effectively, among others.
Lessons for Botswana Defence Force
- Planning Across Different Areas
One of the central lessons from Southern Accord was the importance of planning across different areas of military operations.
Traditional military planning often separates land forces, air operations, intelligence, and other functions. Modern security challenges increasingly require these areas to work together.
During the recent exercise, BDF planners had to consider intelligence, communications, cybersecurity, ground operations, and space-based capabilities as part of the same response.
For example, an intelligence officer may identify a developing threat while a cyber specialist detects an attempt to disrupt military communications. At the same time, satellite-based systems may help maintain communications or provide information to commanders.
By bringing the capabilities together, military leaders were able to develop a more complete understanding of a situation before making decisions.
- Strengthening Cyber Defence
As military and government services become more dependent on digital systems, those systems can become targets for criminals, hostile groups, or states.
During the training, BDF personnel worked with US cyber specialists on defensive measures and simulated attacks. The exercise allowed participants to consider how they could protect military networks and maintain communications during a cyber incident.
Beyond the military, lessons on cyber defence are also important as a serious cyber attack could disrupt government services, banking, communications, transport, or other critical infrastructure. This can hamper a military response if its own systems were also compromised.
For Botswana, strengthening cyber security therefore forms part of wider national security planning.
- Better Coordination with Other Militaries
Southern Accord also gave BDF officers an opportunity to practise working with a foreign military using common planning procedures.
This is particularly crucial because Botswana has experience operating alongside regional and international forces.
The BDF has contributed to peacekeeping and regional security missions, including operations in Somalia, Rwanda, Mozambique, and Lesotho. It also participated in the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM), which was deployed in 2021 to support the country in responding to terrorism and violent extremism in Cabo Delgado.
Such deployments require forces from different countries to communicate, share information, and follow agreed procedures.
Southern Accord provided another opportunity to develop these skills.
The exercise concluded with a Rehearsal of Concept (ROC) drill, during which BDF personnel worked through their planned operations. Such exercises allow military planners to identify gaps and improve coordination before an operation begins.
4. Bringing Civilian Agencies into Crisis Planning
Another lesson was the importance of involving civilian institutions in security planning.
Military forces rarely manage major national emergencies alone. Notably, a crisis can affect government departments, communities, infrastructure, and essential services simultaneously.
Southern Accord therefore included government ministries, civilian agencies, and media liaison teams alongside military planners.
This approach can be particularly useful for Botswana because the BDF has responsibilities that extend beyond conventional military operations. These include disaster response, border security, wildlife protection, and regional peacekeeping.
Better coordination between the military and civilian authorities can help ensure that each institution understands its role during an emergency.
Why Space Was Part of the Exercise
The participation of the United States Space Force was one of the most notable features of Southern Accord 2026.
For Botswana, this was not about preparing to fight a war in space. Instead, it was about understanding how space-based systems already support activities on the ground.
Modern militaries rely on satellites for several important functions. Satellite communications can help forces communicate across large and remote areas where traditional communication networks may be limited.
Position, navigation, and timing systems help military units, aircraft, and other assets determine their location and coordinate movements.
Satellite imagery and other forms of intelligence can provide information about activity over large areas.
Weather monitoring can also help military planners prepare for severe weather and support disaster response.
These capabilities are particularly relevant to a country such as Botswana, which has large and remote areas that can be difficult to monitor and access.
The BDF does not need to develop its own space programme to benefit from such capabilities. The more immediate lesson is understanding how information from space-based systems can support decisions on the ground.
The US Space Force’s participation also reflects a wider change in military planning.
Security operations are no longer limited to land, sea, and air. Cyber networks and space-based systems can affect how forces communicate, gather information, navigate, and respond to threats.
Southern Accord gave Botswana an opportunity to understand how these areas can be incorporated into wider security planning.
A Look at Botswana’s Military and Its Existing Experience
The BDF was established in 1977 and has developed experience in both domestic security and international operations.
Its responsibilities include protecting Botswana’s territory, supporting national emergencies, protecting wildlife, and contributing to regional and international peace operations.
The force has also gained experience through deployments abroad.
Botswana contributed personnel to international operations in Somalia and Rwanda and participated in regional operations in Lesotho and Mozambique. Its involvement in SAMIM gave BDF personnel experience operating alongside forces from other SADC countries in a difficult security environment.
These experiences have already shown the importance of intelligence, logistics, communications, and cooperation between different forces.
Southern Accord builds on that experience by applying those lessons to a broader range of modern threats.
The BDF also faces practical challenges. Maintaining military equipment, developing specialised technical skills, and sustaining overseas deployments require significant resources.
This makes training and international partnerships important. Exercises can help identify weaknesses in planning and coordination without requiring forces to discover those problems during an actual crisis.
The Changing Environment in Botswana’s Security
Botswana is widely regarded as one of Southern Africa’s more politically stable countries.
However, its security environment includes several challenges that extend beyond conventional military threats.
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges in the country is wildlife trafficking.
Botswana has large wildlife populations and is a major destination for organised networks involved in illegal wildlife trade. Such networks can operate across borders and depend on transport routes, financial systems, communications, and contacts in different countries.
With this in mind, information sharing between agencies and countries is particularly crucial.
Botswana also faces other forms of transnational crime, including drug trafficking, human trafficking, smuggling, vehicle theft, and other cross-border criminal activity.
These threats can move across national boundaries faster than government agencies can exchange information. Effective responses therefore require cooperation between the military, police, border authorities, intelligence services, and other government institutions.
The country must also remain prepared for regional instability.
Botswana has contributed to regional security operations and has experience responding to threats beyond its borders. Its participation in SAMIM demonstrated its willingness to contribute to regional efforts against violent extremism.
Another growing concern is the rise in cyber threats as technology advances rapidly.
As more government and private-sector services move online, attacks against digital systems could disrupt essential services without a conventional military attack.
Finally, Botswana’s security forces must be prepared to support communities during droughts, floods, and other emergencies.
These challenges demonstrate why military readiness cannot focus only on conventional combat.
Botswana’s Role in Regional Security
Botswana’s experience in regional security gives it an important role within SADC.
The country has contributed troops to regional operations and continues to participate in efforts to strengthen the region’s ability to respond to crises.
In 2024, Botswana provided land for a SADC Standby Force Regional Logistics Depot in Rasesa. The facility is intended to support the rapid deployment of peacekeeping and humanitarian forces in the region.
Logistics is an important part of military readiness. A regional force may have personnel available but still struggle to respond quickly without transport, equipment, fuel, communications, and other supplies.
Botswana’s contribution to the regional logistics facility therefore complements its military role.
The lessons from Southern Accord could also strengthen Botswana’s contribution to future regional operations. Better planning, intelligence sharing, cyber defence, and communication with other forces could make joint responses more effective.
US-Botswana’s Defence Relationship
Southern Accord 2026 also forms part of a much longer defence relationship between Botswana and the United States.
The BDF and the North Carolina National Guard have been partners through the US National Guard State Partnership Program since 2008.
Over the years, the partnership has included military exchanges, professional training, disaster response, aviation maintenance, medical activities, and other areas of cooperation.
For the United States, Botswana offers a stable regional partner with experience in peacekeeping and regional security.
On the other hand, for Botswana, the relationship provides access to training and expertise in areas that can be expensive and difficult to develop independently.
The partnership is not limited to military operations. It also provides opportunities for professional development and cooperation between institutions.
Southern Accord therefore represents another stage in a relationship that has developed over nearly two decades.
It also does not necessarily conflict with Botswana’s role within SADC. Instead, the skills developed through bilateral training can potentially strengthen Botswana’s ability to contribute to regional operations.
The central theme running through Southern Accord 2026 was interoperability.
In simple terms, interoperability means that different forces and institutions can work together effectively. This goes beyond having compatible equipment and requires personnel to follow common procedures, communicate reliably and build trust and understanding across different organisations.
Personnel need to understand how other forces plan and operate, while different organisations must be able to share information securely and quickly. They also need to work effectively together under pressure, particularly in situations where decisions must be made quickly.
These skills cannot be developed overnight. Exercises such as Southern Accord allow military and civilian planners to work together before they face a real emergency.
That experience could prove useful during a peacekeeping operation, a major natural disaster, a border emergency or a regional security crisis.
What Comes Next for Botswana?
The value of Southern Accord will ultimately depend on what happens after the exercise.
Training has limited long-term value if the lessons are not incorporated into normal military and government planning.
For Botswana, that could mean strengthening cyber defence, improving intelligence sharing, developing secure communications, and continuing to train military and civilian agencies together.
It could also mean using the lessons from the exercise in areas such as disaster response, border management, wildlife protection, and regional peacekeeping.
The involvement of the United States Space Force offers another area for future development. Botswana can continue exploring how satellite communications, navigation, imagery, and weather information can support its existing security responsibilities.
It is worth noting that Botswana does not necessarily need to copy the military capabilities of the United States. Instead, it can identify which technologies and procedures are relevant to its own needs.
The same principle applies to its wider defence relationship with Washington.
International partnerships can provide training and expertise, but Botswana must ultimately decide how those lessons fit its national and regional priorities.
A Lesson in Working Together
Southern Accord 2026 was not primarily about deploying more soldiers on a battlefield. It was about testing how different people, institutions, and technologies could work together during a crisis.
For the BDF, the exercise provided experience in joint planning, cyber defence, intelligence sharing, space-related capabilities, and cooperation with civilian authorities.
These lessons are relevant to Botswana’s wider security environment.
The country faces challenges that cross borders and do not always involve conventional military force. Wildlife trafficking, organised crime, cyberattacks, regional instability, and natural disasters can require multiple agencies to respond simultaneously.
That makes coordination increasingly important.
Botswana already has experience in regional peacekeeping and security operations. Its partnership with the United States has also provided nearly two decades of military training and professional exchanges.
Southern Accord 2026 added another layer to that experience by bringing traditional military planning together with cyber, space, intelligence, and civilian capabilities.
The most important lesson may therefore be quite straightforward: modern security depends not only on what a military has but also on how well its people and partners can work together.
Botswana’s biggest challenge for now is to turn the lessons of the six-day exercise into lasting improvements in planning, communication, and national and regional crisis response.
