Drone funding in Budget does not include 'priority' maritime models
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123RF
Counter-drone systems received funding in this year's Budget, but this did not include maritime drones which the government's $12 billion defence capability plan says are crucial for transforming the Navy.
The defence capability plan (DCP) called the maritime drones "a priority in the first four years".
Militaries worldwide are rushing to buy or build both defence and attack drones, after they became crucial in Russia's war on Ukraine.
There has even been talk of NATO building a "drone wall" from Norway to Poland.
The NZ government's Budget - released last week - funds counter-drone systems as one of 15 "priority" projects, but not maritime or other drones.
But the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) had rejected any suggestion of a delay.
"It is incorrect and misleading to imply anything is 'behind' relating to the 2025 Defence Capability Plan," the NZDF said.
It would use existing drones - as well as "other research" - to draw up business cases for "more significant uncrewed system procurement".
The NZDF has 25 types of drones, with about 100 in total. One type is a maritime drone called Bluebottle.
It has had to retire some old models, and has no attack drones. Twenty units worked with drones, it said.
The capability plan said maritime drones were key to the shape the Navy's new fleet after 2030.
"Development of uncrewed systems and preparation for the future fleet will be a priority in the first four years, while most maritime fleet replacement investments occur in the next phase of the DCP," it said.
"This will allow for the adoption of new and emerging technology to achieve transformational change for the Navy, including across training, trades, and infrastructure."
Rapid transformational technological change has shaped the war in Ukraine.
"Ukrainian drone units often adapt their software daily and evolve their tactics every 1-2 weeks," said Lowy Institute defence analyst Mick Ryan.
"This accelerating learning and adaptation cycle may be the most transformative development to emerge from the war," he said, while criticising the military across the Tasman for being too slow to learn from this.
NATO was also slammed by a Ukrainian commander in March for not being ready for a drone war.
The NZDF said last month it was
learning "immediate lessons" about drones from Ukraine
.
One lesson might be how counter-drones are playing a key role against Russia. Also, the NZDF may not be able to afford counter systems as well as sea or attack drones in one year, or it may be waiting to see what tech the US and Australia go with so it can fit in with them.
But it has given the coalition government just a single briefing about drones 18 months ago, a new OIA response to RNZ showed.
This was six pages long and said little - at least in its unredacted parts - about attack drones.
As for how much drone training it was doing,
The NZDF was unable to provide any figures for how much drone training it was doing. This was "not centrally recorded", but coordinated at unit level, it said.
Officials were unable to outline any significant dates around producing reports or strategies on drones in response to the OIA.
The NZDF recently issued a new guide for the industry about future defence procurement, which listed five tech projects - but not drones.
There were finds in Budget 2025 for 15 projects from the defence capability plan that it said were a "priority".
The only one related to drones was an undisclosed amount for a "credible Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems protective capability that can detect, track, identify and - when necessary and legally permitted - defeat any unauthorised systems that pose a safety hazard or security threat".
The NZDF said Budget 2025 made a significant investment in the plan's projects and "there will be more to come".
The DCP emphasised that high-tech systems were vital to enhance "lethality" and deterrence. It envisaged $50-$100m going on drones for the sea's surface by 2029, and adding undersea ones after 2029.
Among the armed force's stable of drones are several models from Chinese manufacturer DJI, which has been subject to US government review over national security concerns. The NZDF declined to comment about that.
It also has a type made by AeroVironment, which supplies kamikaze drones to the US army, as well as another drone - used to disable explosives - made by Roboteam, an Israeli company that supplied the Israel Defence Forces with robots used in tunnels in Gaza in 2014.
Tests have been run here on drones that "loiter" above a target, then can drop on it and explode.
The Budget set aside $60m in operating spend for maintaining the defence force's information capabilities, including with international partners.
Included in the new guide to 27 future likely projects is one for replacing ground terminals in New Zealand for the US-led Wideband Global Satellite (WGS) system.
The system's dozen or so military communications satellites serve the Pentagon, allies and non-military partners. New Zealand has paid towards running the WGS for years.
Several of the others involve potentially large IT investments, including for defence's
rundown information management system
.
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