Zarvan
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New Zealand released its 2016 Defence Capability Plan on 16 November offering some clarity on future defence projects.
It follows the release of the Defence White Paper released on 8 June by the MoD. which was short on essential details about procurement plans, but the new document rectifies that.
The announcement comes at a time when NZ defence assets and personnel are heavily involved in disaster relief efforts in the wake of a severe earthquake two days earlier.
As part of a modernisation plan out to 2030 totalling ‘close to NZ$20 billion’ ($14 billion), the New Zealand Army, Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) will receive an injection of new equipment.
Beginning with the army, it is considering how to replace or modernise the Pinzgauer and NZLAV fleets, and part of that equation is integrating protected mobility vehicles. The document stated, ‘The project will deliver a capability solution that will provide ground forces with a mix of mobility, armoured protection and directed firepower,’ and it is ‘likely to include a range of modern vehicle types’.
Multiple sets of business cases from 2018-29 will progressively roll out new protected mobility vehicles. It will be interesting to see whether the New Zealand Army shows interest in the Thales Bushmasterused by its Australian counterpart.
Networked systems for communications and battle management are vital, with a company-sized group to be operational in 2019, a light task group by 2022, a combined task group in 2025 and a battalion group by 2028. This technology being procured in four tranches falls under the Network Enabled Armyproject.
Individual weapons such as Lewis Machine & Tool's 5.56mm assault rifles are being rolled out this year, and heavy machine guns will be in service by 2019. Other weapon replacements due to be completed in the next three years are sniper and anti-materiel rifles, and the upgrade of Carl Gustav rocket launchers.
Needed are upgrades to the indirect fire prediction system of incumbent 105mm howitzers, while 81mm mortars will be refurbished or replaced. Plus, 60mm mortars will be obtained.
With new MAN trucks to be fully inducted next year, attention will turn to new vehicles for garrison and training functions, and these will be progressively introduced out till 2030. All-terrain vehicles and/or motorbikes will be procured from 2019-22.
Other capabilities to be enhanced are electronic countermeasures for threats like improvised explosive devices (in 2018); Javelin missile block upgrades (existing launchers are to be replaced by 2021); soldier ballistic protection; and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear protective equipment.
A refresh of combat engineer equipment will be implemented (e.g. small boats, explosives detectors, bridging equipment and bulldozers). Additional night vision and special operations equipment will be acquired in an ongoing manner, including nine Supacat HMT Extenda Mk II vehicles ordered for the latter in September.
On the water, by 2030 the RNZN will either have in service, or in a final state of procurement, a surface combatant replacement for its two ANZAC-class frigates, now undergoing a sensor/weapon midlife upgrade at the hands of Lockheed Martin Canada. Their Phalanx close-in weapon systems will be upgraded in the early 2020s and new ship-launched torpedoes obtained by 2028.
Also in service will be an ice-strengthened offshore patrol vessel (OPV) by 2022, and correspondingly the complement of four inshore patrol vessels will be ‘progressively reduced’ and ‘removed from service’. Two existing OPVs will have their communications upgraded before 2020, and their propulsion and sensor systems modernised by 2027.
A maritime sustainment vessel/tanker – currently being built by Hyundai Heavy Industries – and a littoral operations support ship will be in service by 2020 and 2022 respectively. Subsystems used by the littoral warfare unit will be replaced in 2018, including mine countermeasures, hydrographic and other systems.
HMNZS Canterbury will be nearing the end of its lifespan, but it will receive a rolling midlife upgrade. A decision on new landing craft for this multirole vessel will be made in 2021.
The arrival of new ships will require an upgrade of Devonport Naval Base facilities and wharves in Auckland.
In terms of the RNZAF, it will institute a new strategic airlift capability for national and Joint Logistics Pool taskings in Antarctic, and all the other usual missions currently undertaken by C-130H and Boeing 757 aircraft. The transport aircraft solution will also perform tactical airlift and will be fully operational by the mid-2020s.
Also critical is fixed-wing surveillance aircraft to meet an ‘increased surviellance demand within New Zealand’s maritime domain’, plus coalition operations. Six P-3K2 Orions are receiving an underwater intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance upgrade, plus a communications overhaul, but they will also be fully replaced by the mid-2020s mark. Unmanned aircraft are being considered as part of this solution.
The helicopter fleet will remain steady at eight SH-2G(I) Seasprites (plus two spare airframes), eight NH90s and five AW109s. The latter two platforms will receive avionics compliance and systems refreshes from 2018-27.
A major investment will be made in the New Zealand Defence Force’s (NZDF) networked domain, including cyber protection and support. Investment is now occurring in the strategic bearer network in terms of satcom terminals and global satcom access, while the second phase covering the supporting HF radio bearer network will begin in 2018.
Acquisition of the networked Defence Command and Control System is already under way, and it will be complete by around 2020.A future mobile radio system will ensure a secure information environment across government agencies.
The army will grow in size over the next ten years, and the MoD recognises the need to recruit, train and retain personnel in all three services. Hopefully it has learned from destructive mistakes made in 2011 when it began implementing a plan to discharge 1,400 personnel.
With just 9,181 uniformed regular personnel right now, the NZDF is small although well trained to perform a wide variety of missions. Its equipment ambitions are modest and well suited to the challenges the country faces.
The plan stated, ‘Defence will lift its game to deliver on the capability commitments made in the Defence White Paper. This includes pursuing a number of strategies to allow Defence to successfully deliver the significant investment that government has provisioned, to mitigate risks and to improve long term affordability and efficiency.’
The government predicts spending of an average of 1% of GDP out to 2030 will be sufficient to fund the aforementioned projects, but past spending cuts imposed by the government have hurt the armed forces before.
https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/defence-notes/nz-outlines-capability-investment/
