Latest news with #TalismanSabre
RNZ News
5 days ago
- RNZ News
New Zealand Defence Force using US Army wargame simulation software DATE
The US Army created this official training environment, called the Decisive Action Training Environment (DATE), in 2023 and the NZDF joined it soon after. Photo: TRADOC / US Army The New Zealand army is using US Army software that offers "worlds of wargames" simulations to help run massive real-world international military exercises. The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) is this coming week embarking on one such exercise, sending about 700 soldiers to Talisman Sabre , a 35,000-strong Australian-US bilateral operation across the Tasman. It was also recently on a US-led exercise that used scenarios where militaries could choose from barely disguised pseudo-countries called, for instance, Olvana and Himaldesh, and click to set how intense the wargame would be. The US Army created this official training environment, called the Decisive Action Training Environment (DATE), in 2023 and the NZDF joined it soon after. One "world" it offers is the Indo-Pacific. "NZ Army has recently adopted DATE- INDOPACIFIC to define its training adversary, capabilities and tactics," the NZDF said last year. It has its own tab inserted into Australia's version of DATE. One "world" it offers is the Indo-Pacific. Photo: TRADOC / US Army One scenario offered there was "NZ operating as part of an ANZAC Division supported by elms [elements] of the SOUTH TORBIAN Army against a NORTH TORBIAN adversary fighting in SOUTH TORBIA". On maps, Torbia corresponded to the Philippines, while Olvana corresponded to most of China. The US Army said DATE provided a "foundational narrative" for wargames. "By continuously updating DATE World to reflect the evolving operational environment, the US Army ensures its soldiers are prepared to fight and win anywhere in the world," it said in the introduction. The US Army had control over updating the "worlds". Enemy forces were "realistically modelled", it said. The narrative about Olvana said it "maintains the largest military in the Pacific region" and "Olvana has successfully closed the technological gap that once separated it from Western militaries". Olvana had nuclear missiles, the game said, which laid out an elaborate force structure. The New Zealand version displayed a fake United Nations resolution that condemned the "Olvanan invasion of Belesia" and demanded withdrawal. The other worlds offered include Africa, Eurasia and Polar. The gamer enemy's capabilities would "continuously evolve to reflect the contemporary geostrategic situation", the NZDF site said. Real countries could be used as friendly or neutral actors, but "real countries cannot be used as belligerents in unclassified scenarios". DATE was also recently on a US-led exercise that used scenarios where militaries could choose from barely disguised pseudo-countries. Photo: TRADOC / US Army Links at the NZDF tab take a user back to the US site. Australia's version gives the capital of Olvana as Shanghai. The US Army unit behind DATE, called Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), said it helped army forces "out-think and outmanoeuvre adversaries". In April it put out a 42-page report titled " How China Fights in Large-Scale Combat Operations " that was disseminated to all US partners. The report would "drive curriculum development... support the writing of Army doctrine, and enhance the realism and relevance of US Army training scenarios". The growing threat from China has been an underlying theme in documents about several recent Pentagon initiatives to which New Zealand has signed up. One is Project Convergence, where NZDF took part for the first time last year, within a DATE world. The exercise was "pivotal", the NZDF said. "Engaging live Opposing Force (OPFOR) based on the ... DATE tactics which tested participants and pushed the capabilities in play to their limits. "It marks a significant milestone in New Zealand military collaboration and technological advancement." For this year's Project Convergence, the NZDF went to Texas to help the US plan the main exercise, briefed the US Army Futures Command afterwards and had to have all its technology vetted by the Americans, a response to a request under the Official Information Act (OIA) said. A "detailed enemy will be built across tactical and strategic activities", NZ Army records said. Its top objective at Convergence 2025 was to experiment with integrating its "Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Electronic Warfare" capabilities into the multinational force, the response said. The Pentagon initiatives New Zealand had joined were noted in an open letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Friday from several prominent people including Helen Clark and Don Brash . "More recently, the United States has described China not only as a competitor, but also as an adversary, and has been putting pressure on other countries to take sides," they wrote. They said the government was "positioning New Zealand alongside the United States as an adversary of China". "For example, since coming to office, your government has signed New Zealand up to a number of strategic groupings led by the United States." A footnote cited an opinion article in which Clark and an AUT historian Dr Marco de Jong said the groupings included the Partnership for Indo-Pacific Industrial Resilience (PIPIR) to link defence supply chains, and Project Overmatch which is the US Navy's equivalent of Project Convergence. RNZ first revealed New Zealand had signed up to these. The government did not publicly announce these moves. Another initiative that Clark and Brash and the other letter writers mentioned, was joining the elite space security group Operation Olympic Defender - the government did announce this last October, though it said more about its scientific than military links. Integrating its allies is now a top Pentagon priority. "The US is looking to advance its priorities through 'integrated deterrence': Using all levers of national power seamlessly with Allies and partners across the spectrum of conflict and warfighting domains into all theatres," its 2022 national defence strategy said. "Outside of AUKUS, the DoD (Pentagon) is not adequately integrating key allies and partners, thereby leaving significant resources and capabilities underutilized. Integrating emerging partners into its collaborative innovation network should be a top priority for the DoD," a Pentagon report on innovation said last year. ABC News in Australia last week headlined a story " Is the US preparing for war in the Pacific ?" "To counter a resurgent China, the US is racing to revitalise remote airstrips in the Pacific Ocean," it said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
7 days ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
NZDF heading for joint military exercise
The army is heading for an international exercise where drones will be tested, taking a single drone of its own. Australia and the US are expected to test autonomous weapons as well as a vital new missile system - one that has already upset China - at the Talisman Sabre exercise, starting late next week. As the first 150 out of 680 New Zealand Defence Force personnel going to the exercise got on the Navy ship Canterbury in Wellington, on Thursday, its commanders reiterated their goal to provide the government with a more lethal combat force. "We are very mindful that the role of the Defence Force right now is more critical than it has been for several decades," Brigadier Jason Dyhrberg told reporters. "Therefore, it is important that we make sure we provide the government with a lethal, agile, effective combat force that can protect and preserve New Zealand interests, both domestically and abroad." Yet constraints were still obvious, with the government's $12 billion defence capability plan arriving too late to make a difference. "It's too early to put that into resource right now," Dyhrberg said. "Those capabilities will be in the pipeline in the coming years." That meant little on the drone front, with the motorised infantry combat team taking along just one drone. "This will be employed in a surveillance and target acquisition role by the Joint Fires Team," the NZDF said. Talisman was a proving ground for drones in 2023, which have been transforming warfare in Ukraine. Lieutenant Colonel Caleb Berry said drones would be introduced at all levels of the NZDF, but it would take time. "The Defence Force is on a capability journey with drones," Berry said. "We identify that there is a need, but we're still going through that journey at the moment." Asked if the NZDF was taking anything more lethal now, compared to Talisman 2023, Dyhrberg said, "they're largely the same capabilities". He added quickly: "But in the defence capability plan, the minister has made it quite clear about making the defence force more lethal. "That will include more lethal fires as well. What there will be is still to be determined." 'Joint fires' "Joint fires" refers to digital targeting for shooting at targets synchronised at lightning speed across multiple forces and "domains" (land, sea, air, space). The US and Australia have made strides towards this since 2021, when the Australian Defence Force said it was "now plug and play" and "fully integrated". It not only coordinates the target, but recommends what weapon to shoot at it and how. Joint fire networks are a central part of the Pentagon's priority ongoing project to build a mega-network of sensors and shooters called CJADC2 (Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control). Leading US contractor Lockheed Martin helped provide a joint fires network to exercises in Alaska and took part in Talisman Sabre in 2023. For Talisman 2025, the NZDF is taking more than twice as many people as in 2023, at a time when it had described itself as "hollowed out" and suffering high turnover. Also its stop-start Network Enabled Army project has so far put new digital communications systems into seven Bushmaster vehicles - out of 43 total - and those were driven on to the HMNZS Canterbury on Thursday. "We don't have drones as part of this combat team, but we do have the ability to communicate both digitally and via voice with the Australians at all levels," said Berry. Talisman would also give them the chance to see the missile capability of their partners, he added. 'Command and control' Talisman and other major military exercises, such as Rimpac that the navy went to last year, align with the US's CJADC2 goals to build what the Pentagon calls "kill chains" that are ever faster. At a California exercise NZDF went to in March, the chain was down to just seconds over long distances, US media reports have said. NZDF said a key goal over the three-week Talisman exercise was to integrate its capabilities with Australian and US "command relationships including command and control". Dyhrberg added, "we always maintain sovereignty over our own forces in terms of doing command and control". They had stepped up for 2025 by sending the motorised combat team of Light Armoured Vehicles (LAVs) and Bushmasters, and aimed to build up further to contributing a battalion-size group for Talisman 2027, he said. US pressure - Talisman comes at interesting time for allies' relationship Talisman, the largest bilateral Australia-US military exercise, comes at an interesting time for the allies' relationship. At the weekend, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told Canberra it should lift its defence spending to 3.5% of GDP "as soon as possible", from 2% now. This is about the same proportion as America spends on defence. He conveyed this at the Shangri-La dialogue summit, where New Zealand Minister of Defence Judith Collins had spoken in defence of Donald Trump's proposed Golden Dome missile defence system. Hegseth and Australia's Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles, "discussed aligning investment to the security environment in the Indo-Pacific", the Pentagon said. But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese later said Australia would decide what defence capability it needed, with spending to fit that. The Australian reported this as Albanese having "brushed off the request". "We'll determine our defence policy," Albanese said. His government's current goal is to hit 2.4% by 2033, which would take the total spend to over $100 billion a year. New Zealand in April announced its goal of doubling its defence spending to 2% by 2032, or over $10b a year. Japan's is only about 1.8%. However, some analysts predict US defence spending will actually go down in the coming decade, to under 3 percent, though Hegseth has made much about having the first US-trillion-dollar defence budget this year (which has not been agreed to yet). The share of the spend that US states get varies wildly, with Texas getting the biggest share, next Virginia and third California. More money has recently been going into Silicon Valley as the Pentagon signs contracts with various tech companies branching out into defence.
RNZ News
7 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
NZ Defence Force contingent headed for large joint military exercise with one drone
A new NZ Defence Force Bushmaster armoured vehicle being driven on to the HMNZS Canterbury in Wellington on Thursday, headed for the Talisman Sabre military exercise. Photo: RNZ/ Phil Pennington The army is heading for an international exercise where drones will be tested, taking a single drone of its own. Australia and the US are expected to test autonomous weapons as well as a vital new missile system - one that has already upset China - at the Talisman Sabre exercise, starting late next week. As the first 150 out of 680 New Zealand Defence Force personnel going to the exercise got on the Navy ship Canterbury in Wellington, on Thursday, its commanders reiterated their goal to provide the government with a more lethal combat force. "We are very mindful that the role of the Defence Force right now is more critical than it has been for several decades," Brigadier Jason Dyhrberg told reporters. "Therefore, it is important that we make sure we provide the government with a lethal, agile, effective combat force that can protect and preserve New Zealand interests, both domestically and abroad." Yet constraints were still obvious, with the government's $12 billion defence capability plan arriving too late to make a difference. "It's too early to put that into resource right now," Dyhrberg said. "Those capabilities will be in the pipeline in the coming years." That meant little on the drone front, with the motorised infantry combat team taking along just one drone. "This will be employed in a surveillance and target acquisition role by the Joint Fires Team," the NZDF told RNZ. Talisman was a proving ground for drones in 2023 , which have been transforming warfare in Ukraine. Lieutenant Colonel Caleb Berry said drones would be introduced at all levels of the NZDF, but it would take time. "The Defence Force is on a capability journey with drones," Berry said. "We identify that there is a need, but we're still going through that journey at the moment." One of three NH90 helicopters Defence is taking to Talisman Sabre in Australia. Photo: RNZ/ Phil Pennington Asked if the NZDF was taking anything more lethal now, compared to Talisman 2023, Dyhrberg said, "They're largely the same capabilities." He added quickly: "But in the defence capability plan, the minister has made it quite clear about making the defence force more lethal. "That will include more lethal fires as well. What there will be is still to be determined." "Joint fires" refers to digital targeting for shooting at targets synchronised at lightning speed across multiple forces and "domains" (land, sea, air, space). The US and Australia have made strides towards this since 2021, when the Australian Defence Force said it was "now plug and play" and "fully integrated". It not only coordinates the target, but recommends what weapon to shoot at it and how. Australian Army gunner Akbar Joeharris monitors an Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System inside a command post Bushmaster vehicle during a previous Exercise Talisman Sabre. Photo: Supplied/ Australian Defence Force Joint fire networks are a central part of the Pentagon's priority ongoing project to build a mega-network of sensors and shooters called CJADC2 (Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control). Leading US contractor Lockheed Martin helped provide a joint fires network to exercises in Alaska and took part in Talisman Sabre in 2023. For Talisman 2025, the NZDF is taking more than twice as many people as in 2023, at a time when it had described itself as "hollowed out" and suffering high turnover. Also its stop-start Network Enabled Army project has so far put new digital communications systems into seven Bushmaster vehicles - out of 43 total - and those were driven on to the HMNZS Canterbury on Thursday. NZ Army Bushmaster 5.5 armoured vehicles. Photo: Supplied/ NZ Defence Force "We don't have drones as part of this combat team, but we do have the ability to communicate both digitally and via voice with the Australians at all levels," said Berry. Talisman would also give them the chance to see the missile capability of their partners, he added. Talisman and other major military exercises, such as Rimpac that the navy went to last year, align with the US's CJADC2 goals to build what the Pentagon calls "kill chains" that are ever faster. At a California exercise NZDF went to in March, the chain was down to just seconds over long distances, US media reports have said. NZDF told RNZ a key goal over the three-week Talisman exercise was to integrate its capabilities with Australian and US "command relationships including command and control". Dyhrberg added, "We always maintain sovereignty over our own forces in terms of doing command and control." They had stepped up for 2025 by sending the motorised combat team of Light Armoured Vehicles (LAVs) and Bushmasters, and aimed to build up further to contributing a battalion-size group for Talisman 2027, he said. Talisman, the largest bilateral Australia-US military exercise, comes at an interesting time for the allies' relationship. At the weekend, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told Canberra it should lift its defence spending to 3.5 percent of GDP "as soon as possible", from 2 percent now. This is about the same proportion as America spends on defence. He conveyed this at the Shangri-La dialogue summit, where New Zealand Minister of Defence Judith Collins had spoken in defence of Donald Trump's proposed Golden Dome missile defence system. Hegseth and Australia's Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles, "discussed aligning investment to the security environment in the Indo-Pacific", the Pentagon said. But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese later said Australia would decide what defence capability it needed, with spending to fit that. The Australian reported this as Albanese having "brushed off the request". "We'll determine our defence policy," Albanese said. His government's current goal is to hit 2.4 percent by 2033, which would take the total spend to over $100 billion a year. New Zealand in April announced its goal of doubling its defence spending to 2 percent by 2032, or over $10b a year. Japan's is only about 1.8 percent. However, some analysts predict US defence spending will actually go down in the coming decade, to under 3 percent, though Hegseth has made much about having the first US-trillion-dollar defence budget this year (which has not been agreed to yet). The share of the spend that US states get varies wildly, with Texas getting the biggest share, next Virginia and third California. More money has recently been going into Silicon Valley as the Pentagon signs contracts with various tech companies branching out into defence. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
7 days ago
- General
- Scoop
NZDF Prepares For Major Warfighting Exercise In Australia
Press Release – New Zealand Defence Force Held every two years, the exercise is designed to improve and strengthen interoperability and combat readiness in complex, multi-domain operations. New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel and assets have begun to deploy to one of the largest multi-national military exercises in the world. Featuring more than 30,000 military personnel and platforms from 19 nations, Exercise Talisman Sabre 25 is being held from 13 July to 4 August across Australia. Held every two years, the exercise is designed to improve and strengthen interoperability and combat readiness in complex, multi-domain operations. In preparation for the exercise, close to 35 New Zealand Army vehicles, including Light Armoured Vehicles (NZLAV) and the new Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles, along with 150 personnel, boarded HMNZS Canterbury today, ready for the transit to Queensland. Once there, the NZ Army combat team will link up with the Australian Army's 7th Brigade for a preparatory exercise to hone their interoperability in the build up to Talisman Sabre. They will soon be joined by the frigate HMNZS Te Kaha, three NH90 helicopters, P-8A Poseidon aircraft, mine warfare divers, military police, medics, logistics and others to support a range of intense land, air, and maritime operations alongside key partners. In total, more than 680 NZDF personnel will deploy on the exercise. 'Talisman Sabre provides an invaluable opportunity for us to train with some of our closest defence partners in a realistic and demanding environment,' said Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, Major General Rob Krushka. 'Exercises like this ensure we remain a credible, capable and combat-ready force, ready to respond to regional and global challenges.' Participating alongside ally Australia and defence partners including the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and others, the NZDF's involvement reflects New Zealand's ongoing commitment to collective security, regional stability, and defence cooperation. 'One of our real capabilities is force integration,' Major General Krushka said. 'We have a well-proven ability to seamlessly embed our personnel and platforms into multi-national, multi-domain tactical forces and this exercise gives us another opportunity to demonstrate this.' Talisman Sabre 25 will incorporate joint training scenarios including amphibious landings, maritime identification and interception, air operations, live-fire exercises, and logistics support across a vast training area, including in Australia's Northern Territory and Queensland, and in the Coral Sea. For the first time, Papua New Guinea will also be hosting an event.
Scoop
7 days ago
- General
- Scoop
NZDF Prepares For Major Warfighting Exercise In Australia
Press Release – New Zealand Defence Force Held every two years, the exercise is designed to improve and strengthen interoperability and combat readiness in complex, multi-domain operations. New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel and assets have begun to deploy to one of the largest multi-national military exercises in the world. Featuring more than 30,000 military personnel and platforms from 19 nations, Exercise Talisman Sabre 25 is being held from 13 July to 4 August across Australia. Held every two years, the exercise is designed to improve and strengthen interoperability and combat readiness in complex, multi-domain operations. In preparation for the exercise, close to 35 New Zealand Army vehicles, including Light Armoured Vehicles (NZLAV) and the new Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles, along with 150 personnel, boarded HMNZS Canterbury today, ready for the transit to Queensland. Once there, the NZ Army combat team will link up with the Australian Army's 7th Brigade for a preparatory exercise to hone their interoperability in the build up to Talisman Sabre. They will soon be joined by the frigate HMNZS Te Kaha, three NH90 helicopters, P-8A Poseidon aircraft, mine warfare divers, military police, medics, logistics and others to support a range of intense land, air, and maritime operations alongside key partners. In total, more than 680 NZDF personnel will deploy on the exercise. 'Talisman Sabre provides an invaluable opportunity for us to train with some of our closest defence partners in a realistic and demanding environment,' said Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, Major General Rob Krushka. 'Exercises like this ensure we remain a credible, capable and combat-ready force, ready to respond to regional and global challenges.' Participating alongside ally Australia and defence partners including the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and others, the NZDF's involvement reflects New Zealand's ongoing commitment to collective security, regional stability, and defence cooperation. 'One of our real capabilities is force integration,' Major General Krushka said. 'We have a well-proven ability to seamlessly embed our personnel and platforms into multi-national, multi-domain tactical forces and this exercise gives us another opportunity to demonstrate this.' Talisman Sabre 25 will incorporate joint training scenarios including amphibious landings, maritime identification and interception, air operations, live-fire exercises, and logistics support across a vast training area, including in Australia's Northern Territory and Queensland, and in the Coral Sea. For the first time, Papua New Guinea will also be hosting an event.
