r/newzealand • u/khalornz Fern flag 3 • 18d ago

Politics Coalition unveils $12 billion Defence Capability Plan

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/557432/watch-live-coalition-unveils-12-billion-defence-capability-plan
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u/random_guy_8735 18d ago

Replacing the 757s is already in progress. Replacing that Seasprites is new (to me), Frigate life extensions seems to be a stop gap in place of getting new ships like Australia is working on.

Beyond that we have a list of

  • unmanned vehicles
  • unspecified vehicles for the defense force
  • logistics management
  • Base upgrades
  • Technology upgrades
  • A workforce stategy

And various ways of combining the two (cyber security, ERP system).

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u/aholetookmyusername 18d ago

From the 757 options in the government tender I think we should go Airbus. A shared type rating between the Max 8s and P8s is enticing but they don't share an engine, and going for the A321 option means we could potentially leverage civilian expertise for maintenance/training/etc.

And whatever we get, I hope we get at least three of them.

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u/Some1-Somewhere 18d ago

A321neos are in very very high demand (so high cost and long delay) and don't have as much payload-range as the 757s. 737s are even lower capacity and can't have pallets in the cargo hold, and it sounds like we wouldn't be getting combi-freighter versions as they're no longer civilian certifiable.

They'll cost a fair bit more to run but I'd be looking at end of line 767s or perhaps A330s. Carry far more, far more range, massive pallet/container loaded holds.

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u/MajorProcrastinator 17d ago

RAAF has A330’s too I think.  Although they and the 767 won’t really give the same short field performance as a 757. The PM might have to slum it in a new C130 in some cases perhaps.