Defence Force could get more 'killer drones' after Budget boost

RNZ News

22-05-2025

Defence Minister Judith Collins.
Photo:
RNZ / Calvin Samuel
The Budget shows the Defence Force's growing push into the drone warfare will focus first on "counter-drone" systems.
This is one of about a dozen initiatives in the Budget signalled already in the Defence Capability Plan last month.
All up, there is $4.2 billion in capital and operating funding for the initiatives, most of it being spent over four years, although, in many cases, just how this is divvied up is withheld due to commercial sensitivities.
The government already signalled the NZDF could get more 'killer' drones, to add to its existing small stable of surveillance drones. However, the Budget documents referred instead to a counter-uncrewed aerial system that "can be set up in fixed locations and is able to disable drones".
Companies in Australia have been working on these, and they have become a fixture in the Ukraine-Russia war.
The projects under the Defence Capability Plan dominate the Budget: The biggest capital spend over the four years, as signalled, is to replace eight old maritime helicopters with five new ones - no new details are forthcoming on that.
An upgrade of anti-armour Javelin weapons and replacing the two old 757s that are routinely experiencing embarrassing breakdowns, make the list.
The Javelins would allow defence to engage tanks "at longer ranges".
However, there is no mention of other new missile strike capability, though both the DCP and Defence Minister Judith Collins have repeatedly referred to getting new missiles.
There is also no mention of spending on space capabilities, which the DCP had envisaged hundreds of millions going towards.
Large sums are set aside with $60 million a year for maintaining the air force's capability, $50 million for the army and $39 million for the navy.
Defence Minister Judith Collins said earlier a key constraint on the extra spending is having the personnel to handle that. The Budget provides $8 million for pay rises per year for civilian personnel, and $38 million a year for military allowances (these range up to about $100 a day for uniformed staff in the field or at sea).
Savings include $13 million from 2024-27 on the army's new Bushmasters getting high-tech communications installed. These vehicles would likely be crucial for any peacekeeping in Ukraine. The project had been rephased, the Budget said, but it is not clear what that means.
There is $16 million across four years for the project to fix many leaky and substandard homes for personnel; and $25 million to planning and design to revamp the Devonport Naval base.
Unlike the UK that slashed its international aid budget to fund more defence spending, the Budget maintains the foreign aid budget at about what it was - $1 billion a year.
The Budget halves the amount that had been going into a special climate aid fund, reducing it from $200 million a year to $100 million, and also expands what that money can be spent on. This fund had faced a cut-off in January.
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