Summarised by Centrist
The government has announced a $2.7 billion investment in military hardware, including helicopters armed with Hellfire missiles and long-range Airbus aircraft, as part of a broader defence upgrade responding to what Foreign Minister Winston Peters calls a “sharply deteriorating security environment.”
The package includes five MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, equipped with anti-submarine torpedoes and precision strike systems, and two Airbus A321XLRs to replace the ageing Boeing 757 fleet.
The announcement comes just months after Chinese naval vessels entered the Tasman Sea without warning. One ship, the Renhai-class destroyer Zunyi, is described by New Zealand officials as China’s most advanced surface warship. It conducted live-fire exercises under a commercial flight path, forcing dozens of aircraft to divert. China offered no explanation for its presence.
Defence officials said it was the first time a task group of this strength had entered these waters, calling the voyage “unprecedented.”
Analysts saw the drills as a pointed reminder to Wellington and Canberra that China can project force in the Pacific, just as Australia and New Zealand do in the contested South China Sea.
Peters said the new Defence Capability Plan will lift spending above 2 percent of GDP and be reviewed every two years to adapt to global shifts.
Collins added that New Zealand’s military posture, once described as “minimalist,” is rapidly changing.
Read more over at NewstalkZB and Global Defence News
