PM unsure how Aussie ship knocked parts of NZ offline
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon remains unaware of how an Australian warship was allowed accidentally to knock out mobile internet access across Taranaki and Marlborough last week.
Navigation radar interference from HMAS Canberra, the Royal Australian Navy's largest warship, disrupted 5 GHz wireless access points on Wednesday as it sailed through the Cook Strait.
The interference triggered in-built switches in the devices that caused them to go offline, ABC News reported - a safety precaution to prevent wireless signals interfering with radar systems in New Zealand's airspace.
Luxon told RNZ this morning he was yet to have an explanation how the situation was allowed to happen, but he was "sure" Defence Minister Judith Collins would find out.
He said it was not a "deliberate" act from the Australians.
"Look, we are very pleased that they're here. They are our only ally. We work very closely with the Australians, as you know, I'm not sure what's happened here. Again, that'll be something the defence minister will look into."
Asked if it had exposed a vulnerability in our communications network, Luxon said it was "the nature" of it.
"There's a whole bunch of technology… in the defence space and the cyberspace and how wars are being fought, and will be fought in the future will be a big component of it…
"Judith Collins will be checking into that and understanding exactly what has happened there, but I'm very proud of that relationship. I'm very proud that they're here. It's great that they've come."
The blackout came the same week "human error" knocked out fibre-based internet to much of the lower North Island.
Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith told RNZ last week he would be discussing the Australian warship situation with officials. Relationships with China, US
Also last week, two former prime ministers and an ex-governor of the Reserve Bank put their names to a letter questioning the government's foreign policy - in particular "positioning New Zealand alongside the United States as an adversary of China".
It was signed, among others, by Helen Clark, Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Dr Don Brash, questioning whether New Zealand was risking its economic and trade relationship with China by aligning itself closer with the US.
"Like 192 other countries, we've got an independent foreign policy. There'll be lots of different views on foreign policy, I get that," Luxon told RNZ.
"But, you know, frankly, my job as prime minister is to advance our national interests - that is both… around our security and our economic interests. And I think you've also got to acknowledge that the strategic environment from 25 or 35 years ago is very different from what we have today, and it will continue to evolve."
He said he disagreed with the view that working more closely with the US on defence, under the adversarial Trump administration, would sour New Zealand's relationship with China.
I think, you know, we have important relationships with both the US and China. We will make our own assessment based on our own needs, as to, you know, how we navigate those relationships.
"But in both cases, you know, we have, you know, deep engagement and cooperation. We also have differences with the US - we've raised concerns around tariffs. With the Chinese, we've raised concerns around cyber attacks on our parliamentary system."
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The US feels it has no choice, with its lawmakers and think-tanks increasingly expressing the idea that it faces an existential threat like never before. 'The United States will face two nuclear peer adversaries for the first time,' said a 2023 congressional report, delivered by only the second Strategic Posture Commission to report back since 2009. 'Their projected capabilities magnify how complex this competition could become, and combine to pose an existential threat to the United States and its allies and partners.' China has more than doubled its arsenal of nuclear warheads in recent years to an estimated 600, heading for more than 1000 by 2030. At the same time, Beijing is adding non-nuclear weapons that will be able to attack in new ways in space, where nuclear command has a lot of its tech. 'New Russian and Chinese weapons make Washington's nuclear command structure vulnerable to attack,' the vice chair of the non-partisan Commission on the National Defence Strategy Eric Edelman wrote early this month. 'These emerging capabilities raise a spectre that the US government has not had to face for at least 35 years: The prospect of nuclear decapitation.' The US has about 3700 warheads. The problem is not the scale, but the age of the nuclear 'wing': Four-decade-old Minuteman missiles, superannuitant nuclear bombers, and systems that till a few years ago were running on 1980s floppy discs. The US fleet of nuclear-armed submarines is stretched. The parts of the system relied on to detect enemy launches of nukes, track missiles and launch an attack are also old. Trump, like presidents before him, is dependent on NC3 for what he knows about a threat and how he responds, and NC3 remains highly dependent on a few big, old satellites. In March, US lawmakers backed calls by their nuclear and space commanders to push on with upgrades across the nuclear system. 'We are talking about being strong enough to prevent a nuclear war, and nothing could be more important,' Republican senator Roger Wicker, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said at the hearing. That strength will be impacted by Trump's proposed 'golden dome' defence shield against nuclear and conventional missiles. Some analysts say it could actually cut nuclear stockpiles by reducing the perceived threat in Washington, but others say it could fuel a space arms race. 'Number one priority for the United States Army for modernisation' Senior Pentagon leaders have for years been saying that their systems are not up to the task, and not just the nuclear ones. They stated their 'existing command and control architecture is insufficient to meet the demands of the 2018 National Defence Strategy', the Congressional Research Service said in 2022. The response has been to embark on building platforms 'to connect sensors from all of the military services – Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Space Force – into a single network', in a 'once-in-a-generation modernisation'. The mega-network plan predates Trump and its buildout as planned would outlast him. Some defence analysts have expressed doubts it might be too ambitious, congressional reports show. In its statement to RNZ, the Pentagon did not address whether work on CJADC2 was changing at all under the Trump White House. However, a US commander in March called the network 'incredibly important, probably [the] number one priority for the United States Army for modernisation'. 'We will never achieve our warfighting effectiveness if we don't have a command-and-control network that enables our commanders to execute mission command at the point of need on the battlefield. Period, full stop.' 'Bloc confrontation' The work on both nuclear and conventional sides picked up after the US Space Force was set up in 2019, with the pace increasing even more under the recent strategy to work with allies more. Another main driver has been the rapidly deteriorating geopolitical environment, which governments from Wellington to London have cited as the main reason to ramp up defence spending. At the same time, Ukraine has ushered in huge changes to warfighting tech and tactics, with the 'conventional' weapons stable expanding to include very unconventional hypersonic missiles, drones, electromagnetic jammers and lasers. The US Space Force laid out in March a package of six new space weapons it wants to underwrite its aggressive new posture. But anything it can attack with in space represents a potential threat to its own command-and-control networks. The New Zealand government has committed to spending a growing proportion for defence on emerging technologies. Collins, the defence and space minister, repeated this at a recent security summit in Singapore. At the same summit, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said China was 'credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power' in Asia. On the summit sidelines, he also called on Australia to ramp up its defence spending even further, 'as soon as possible'. China accused Hegseth of trying to engineer a Cold War 'bloc confrontation' between it and other countries in the region. In an open letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, former political leaders Helen Clark and Don Brash, among others, said the country was in danger of taking sides, with the US versus China. But Luxon pushed back on Monday, saying times had changed, and New Zealand had 'deep engagement and cooperation' with both countries. 'We will make our own assessment based on our own needs as to how we navigate those relationships,' Luxon told Morning Report. 'We offer a global launchpad for all things space' Non-nuclear New Zealand finds itself in an unusual position compared to its partners in the Five Eyes intelligence group – the US, Canada, UK and Australia – and compared to others in the Indo-Pacific region. It is a defence minnow, but it is party to intelligence few others get. It is an enthusiastic participant in efforts to build the CJADC2 mega-network, papers show, but has limited high-tech of its own to add, at least until the new spending on defence kicks in. Its armed forces have no space assets, but hosted more space launches than Russia last year. It is very keen to secure international space business. 'We offer a global launchpad for all things space,' Collins told a space symposium outside the US Space Force base in Colorado in April, an OIA showed, but the country also has four-decade-old nuclear-free laws. It added a new law in 2017 forbidding rocket launches that 'contribute to nuclear weapons programmes or capabilities'. The US military began talks this year with New Zealand and several other countries that can launch or want to, about using their spaceports in future, RNZ revealed last month. While both CJADC2 and NC3 would require many more satellites, it remains unclear if these would be allowed to be launched outside the US, given the extra security settings on anything nuclear. This remains classified, along with many other details of how conventional and nuclear systems integrate, although STRATCOM has stressed the highest-security parts of NC3 would be kept separate. Partial separation was vital, said leading nuclear system analysts at the Atlantic Council last year. 'Risk tolerance for NC3 systems is understandably non-existent; there can be no uncertainty in the ability of the United States to positively command and control its nuclear forces at any given moment,' wrote Peter Hays and Sarah Mineiro. 'US and our allies are trailblazing upgrades' Secrets aside, STRATCOM nuclear command has been clear about expanding the 'tent' of its command-and-control. 'You have to have that interface back and forth,' General Hyten said to defence media, when talking about the technology. It has also been transparent about the role of allies. 'The US and our allies are trailblazing upgrades and capitalising on new technologies to maintain credible and effective deterrence,' said the head of STRATCOM General Anthony Cotton last year. The two-pronged integration between technologies and allies is charted across multiple strategies, plans and administrations. 'We seek to network our efforts across domains, theatres, and the spectrum of conflict to ensure that the US military, in close cooperation with the rest of the US government and our Allies and partners, makes the folly and costs of aggression very clear,' said former President Joe Biden's Deputy Secretary of Defence Dr Kathleen Hicks. 'Cutting edge of military experimentation' The CJADC2 mega-network now involves more than three dozen militaries. The first satellites to support it were launched last year from America's spaceports. The NZDF has engaged in US-led ground, air and naval experiments and exercises since at least the start of 2024, with a primary objective to build out the network. An exercise in March -called Convergence Capstone 5 – was 'a critical proving ground' for a networked fighting force, the NZDF said. 'It puts us at the cutting edge of military experimentation.' It had observers for the first time in 2024 at a Global Information Domination Exercise (GIDE), linked to Project Convergence. The 2023 Talisman Sabre US-Australia bilateral the NZDF was invited to let the partners from 16 countries communicate on one system for the first time. 'We've never set up this kind of construct before,' a US officer told media. For Talisman Sabre 2025, while the NZDF is taking just one drone of its own, it gets to work with the US's much bigger and more deadly fleet, on the eve of the Pentagon rolling out its Replicator strategy for tens of thousands of drones across the Indo-Pacific. Interoperability and modernisation were the key, said defence force reports, released under the OIA. A 'priority for experimentation is highly likely to remain focussed on sensor integration and data sharing/availability', it said about Project Convergence. Under the US Air Force's Advanced Battle Management System, the NZDF – along with Japan, Germany and France – took part in targeting accelerated by AI last year. Other experiments took place to connect US operators with the Five Eyes Battle Labs, also known as the Combined Federated Battle Laboratories Network. For Project Overmatch, the US Navy had by 2021 been 'experimenting in a way that allows us to essentially pass any data on any network to the warfighter'. When the NZDF signed a project agreement to join Overmatch along with other Five Eyes partners in February, the Pentagon called the move 'historic'. 'Joint efforts to promote peace and security' In Project Overmatch – under the slogan 'Decide first, win' – faster satellite-to-gun connections have so far been added to three aircraft carrier groups in the Pacific. Collins sought in May to play down joining Overmatch, a move that went unannounced and was only revealed by RNZ. 'The NZDF routinely engages partners in joint efforts to promote peace and security, many of which are not announced or publicised,' Collins told Parliament in response to a question from the Greens. 'Project Overmatch is part of the US Combined Joint Command and Control strategy,' she added. 'The NZDF signed a Project Overmatch programme arrangement to explore ways in which our maritime forces can interoperate with partner nations, connect securely despite the actions of adversaries, and improve the survivability and lethality of our platforms.' However, the minister [ttps:// also said] she had received no aides-mémoire, briefings, memos, notes, reports or any other advice about Overmatch. The NZDF joined Overmatch a few weeks before its $12 billion defence capability plan was unveiled by Collins. NZ resisting the 'deep slide' – govt The government recently restated its anti-nuclear credentials made world-famous by former Prime Minister David Lange's riposte in an Oxford Union debate in 1987: 'I can smell the uranium on your breath.' In a speech in early 2024, Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs Todd McClay warned the world was in a 'deep slide' over nuclear weapons. 'Investments to modernise arsenals and, in some concerning cases, increase arsenals, is likely to lead to the further entrenchment of nuclear weapons for decades to come,' McClay told a disarmament conference. 'And mistrust has grown. 'And in the absence of any discernible progress to disarm, the seeming incentive persists for the 'have-nots' to join the 'haves' and acquire these terrible weapons.' McClay reiterated the country's longstanding calls for full implementation of the treaties on non-proliferation and on prohibition of nuclear weapons. McClay was not available for an interview for this story. 'Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture' Both CJADC2 and NC3 depend on what happens in space, and Hegseth has said space would become the most important battle domain. New satellites to warn against nuclear attack are scheduled to be launched later this year, a step towards replacing a 14-year-old system called SBIRS, a space-based infrared system. Hundreds of small satellites in two layers are also going up to form the 'backbone' of CJADC2, US Space Force said. This 'Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture' (PWSA) is providing big business for several large defence contractors. 'Proliferation' has become the Pentagon buzzword, a strategy of spreading out technology, especially in space, to make it much harder for an enemy to register a knockout blow. Another recent strategy is to contract commercial space companies to help it achieve 'responsive' launch – fast turnaround launches in case satellites do get knocked out. The NZDF has a tiny space footprint but is aiming to make it bigger, with American help. Its first space payloads – which went up this year and last year – are within the Five Eyes newly 'federated space system' and under a bigger project by the US Navy to achieve laser-fast satellite communications Collins denied the experiments had anything to do with the Project Overmatch: 'The Tui and Korimako payloads are for research purposes only and have no direct utility for military operations,' she said. The NZDF had said earlier: 'These experiments will generate NZDF knowledge to drive future military space operations.' 'Force multipliers for strengthening deterrence' The integration and overlap of conventional and nuclear command-control-and-communications systems is going ahead, official records from within the US show. The impetus to do more faster is growing. 'US nuclear planners… need to plan for the possibility of a combined Sino-Russian nuclear attack,' Edelman said this month. His opinion piece on the website Foreign Policy was headlined 'America's latest problem: A three-way nuclear race'. 'The recent joint Chinese-Russian strategic bomber patrols near Alaska demonstrate that this is not just a theoretical concern,' he wrote. While America's defence doctrine does not rule out a first strike, its stress has always been on deterrence. The Pentagon and lawmakers are agreed their old nuclear systems do not provide the best deterrent, and must be modernised. They have also looked at command-and-control on all fronts, arrived at the same conclusion and came up with a joined-up approach – joined-up tech, with joined-up allies and partners. A subsection of a 2024 Pentagon report, headlined 'Optimising innovation cooperation with allies and partners', warned the US was not adequately integrating key allies and partners, and it recommended that the 'DoD should leverage these strengths through new and innovative mechanisms of cooperation'. The Nuclear Posture Review in 2022, in a section on the Indo-Pacific, stated: 'We view the expertise, capabilities, and resources of our allies and partners as 'force multipliers' for strengthening deterrence.'
