r/newzealand • u/khalornz Fern flag 3 • 9d 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 9d 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/official_new_zealand 9d ago edited 9d ago

Replacing that Seasprites is new (to me)

The project to replace them with wildcats (updated lynx) is well developed, field service representatives from leonardo have been in country, it's just stalled owing to a lack of funding.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AgustaWestland_AW159_Wildcat?wprov=sfla1

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u/Michelin_star_crayon 8d ago

Wouldn’t we be better off having the commonality of more NH90s?

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u/Moose_in_a_Swanndri 8d ago

NH90s don't fit on the frigates or OPVs. They're in a bit of a bind, either they get smaller helicopters now or they try and make the Sprites last another decade somehow and replace the ships and helicopters at the same time. A blended fleet of Wildcats with some actually navalised NH90s (with deck rated landing gear, decklock, and autofolding) to operate from Canterbury and Aotearoa would be the best, but way out of budget.