New Zealand Defence Force

[Anzac]

The NZ Army Future Land Operating Concept has been released.

http://www.army.mil.nz/downloads/pdf...ncept-2035.pdf

It is worth a read in my view. Looks to how a small fairly cash strapped Army can stay relevant in the expected contested world of 2035.

[Sparky42]

Seems that the NZ ANZAC upgrades (over 500 million) means that the suggested "Littoral Support Ship" has been cancelled, wonder why NZ went with the upgrades they have picked rather than going with the RAN upgrade, along with the fact that they are going to be the only Sea Ceptor user in the Pacific currently...

[Anzac]

Seems that the NZ ANZAC upgrades (over 500 million) means that the suggested "Littoral Support Ship" has been cancelled, wonder why NZ went with the upgrades they have picked rather than going with the RAN upgrade, along with the fact that they are going to be the only Sea Ceptor user in the Pacific currently...

The high end LOSV tender has been chopped but they are still replacing current Dive/MCM vessel which will be in service next year. The full capability expeditionary littoral warfare vessel is still on the DWP long term plans.

The RAN ANZAC upgrade approach was cheaper per ship and by quite a margin. Why did they go with alternative configuration? Because there was a view that the RAN upgraded ships are right on the displacement limit and would not have the kind of seakeeping for NZ waters which include the Southern Ocean.

Sea Ceptor is not a bad approach and will make in roads over time in the Asia Pacific. With ESSM even quad packed there is all that extra weight, space and maintenance required to fit extra Mk41 VLS cells. The NZ Anzacs are removing their Tac length Mk41 cells as they are now deadweight and space hogs.

[SouthernOne]

The RAN ANZAC upgrade approach was cheaper per ship and by quite a margin. Why did they go with alternative configuration? Because there was a view that the RAN upgraded ships are right on the displacement limit and would not have the kind of seakeeping for NZ waters which include the Southern Ocean.

Sea Ceptor is not a bad approach and will make in roads over time in the Asia Pacific. With ESSM even quad packed there is all that extra weight, space and maintenance required to fit extra Mk41 VLS cells. The NZ Anzacs are removing their Tac length Mk41 cells as they are now deadweight and space hogs.

Keep in mind that the RAN ships have been upgraded through a series of separately funded projects. The last of these will see the installation of a phased array long range L-Band search radar to replace the current SP-49, which will be additional to the current X and S band arrays. They will have a radar suite that’s far more capable, and likely far more expenses, than the set up that will be fitted to the NZ ships.

The RAN ships have also had a lot of hull work competed to restore buoyancy margins, including fully enclosing the quarterdeck.

Yes, ESSM is heavy compared to SeaCeptor, but that's essentially because its a much faster missile with a significantly longer range.

[Anzac]

Keep in mind that the RAN ships have been upgraded through a series of separately funded projects. The last of these will see the installation of a phased array long range L-Band search radar to replace the current SP-49, which will be additional to the current X and S band arrays. They will have a radar suite that’s far more capable, and likely far more expenses, than the set up that will be fitted to the NZ ships.

The RAN ships have also had a lot of hull work competed to restore buoyancy margins, including fully enclosing the quarterdeck.

Yes, ESSM is heavy compared to SeaCeptor, but that's essentially because its a much faster missile with a significantly longer range.

The NZ Anzacs also completed a propulsion and systems upgrade just prior to the FSU project. They were effectively gutted internally and the quarterdeck semi enclosed.

I recently attended the decommissioning of Manawanui and asked a 4 striper why the RNZN did not dovetail with the RAN. "The question we posed was what are our operational priorities? The RAN Anzacs met what they wanted to do but not what we wanted." The further points that he made were 1) the upgrade decision was not made lightly and evolved over years 2) Sea keeping was a significant factor and they believe they got the best balance and will end up with a faster and more agile ship. 3) The RAN requirements favoured a greater emphasis on AD than was deemed necessary for the RNZN which required stable general purpose frigate with good effective LAAD for the conditions it will operate until we replace them.

[Anzac]

As a heads-up to those who are interested the first of 4 Beechcraft Kingair 350i's are currently being delivered from Hawker Pacific Australia to RNZAF Ohakea for 42 Sqd. The base airframes are low houred recent builds and will undergo pre delivery fitout by Hawker Pacific NZ. It is still not clear if they will replace the leased B200's presently in service. The B200's currently deliver multi-engine pilot training, consolidation flying, short-range light transport (including VIP tasks). The B350's will have a sensor suite fitted to enable Air Warfare Specialist training and inner EEZ maritime patrol for fisheries & customs work. In recent years RNZAF air warfare training has been conducted in Australia however a decision was made to bring it back in house. To add all that workload onto just 4 platforms seems somewhat hectic though I understand that sims and procedral trainers would alleviate much. Furthermore training front seaters and back seaters at the same time in real world - real time conditions on occasions would have benefits.

The new DefMin is also undertaking a review of the previous governments $20 billion defence capitalisation spend and has asked the US DefSec for an extension to the offer and acceptance timetable of the P-8A's requested last year. Some see this as nefarious and a sign that the government would not commit to the deal however I think it has more to do with the new DefMin being seen to not rubber stamp the previous governments selection without some political theatre.