New Zealand Defence Force

The New Zealand Defence Force consists of three services: the New Zealand Army; the Royal New Zealand Navy; and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The Commander-in-Chief of the NZDF is New Zealand's Governor-General Anand Satyanand who exercises his power on the advice of the Minister of Defence, Phil Goff, under the Defence Act 1990. The commander and head of the NZDF is the Chief of Defence Force (CDF), Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae, who also acts as the primary military advisor to the Minister of Defence.

New Zealand's armed forces have three defence policy objectives; to defend New Zealand against low-level threats, to contribute to regional security; and to play a part in global security efforts. New Zealand considers its own national defence needs to be modest, due to its geographical isolation and benign relationships with neighbours.^[2] As of September 2008, approximately 600 NZDF personnel served overseas in the South Pacific, Asia and Middle East areas.^[3]

History

Further information: Military history of New Zealand

New Zealand's military developed from the United Kingdom, which provided security for the European settlers in New Zealand, and later when the colony achieved dominion status. An independent New Zealand military only developed in the early twentieth century, and later served with Australians alongside the British in both World War I and II. As New Zealand grew more independent of the British, closer military ties were developed with Australia and the United States.

New Zealand is a signatory of the ANZUS treaty, a defence pact between it, Australia and the United States. Since the United States suspended its obligations to New Zealand in 1986, due to the latter's anti-nuclear policy that refused certain US ships access to ports, New Zealand co-operates only with Australia under the treaty. Before entering New Zealand, US ships must declare whether they are nuclear propelled or carrying nuclear weapons. Since the US has a policy of "neither confirm nor deny", they have not visited New Zealand.

The NZDF came into existence under the Defence Act 1990.

Branches

Army

Main article: New Zealand Army

New Zealand's Army consists of around 4,500 full-time and 2,500 part-time troops. Most troops are infantry. New Zealand does not operate tanks, although it does have more than 100 Armoured Fighting Vehicles, known as the NZLAV. The New Zealand Special Air Service, an Army unit, is the NZDF's special forces capability. Other NZ Army branches include:

• Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment
• Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps
• Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery
• Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers
• Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals
• Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment
• Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps
• Royal New Zealand Army Nursing Corps
• Royal New Zealand Army Dental Corps
• Corps of Royal New Zealand Military Police
• New Zealand Intelligence Corps

Navy

HMNZS Te Mana

Main article: Royal New Zealand Navy

The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) includes two Anzac class frigates, developed in conjunction with Australia. Eight other vessels are in use, consisting of patrol vessels and logistics. Over the next few years the RNZN will acquire seven new vessels: one large Multi-Role Vessel, two Offshore Patrol Vessels, and four Inshore Patrol Vessels. All of these new vessels will be part of Project Protector and will be built to commercial standards.

Air Force

One of the RNZAF's two Boeing 757 transport aircraft

Main article: Royal New Zealand Air Force

The Royal New Zealand Air Force consists of 50 aircraft, consisting of P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft and Lockheed C-130 Hercules and other transport aircraft. The RNZAF does not have a strike force following the retirement of its A-4 Skyhawk and Aermacchi MB-339 squadrons. A plan to acquire 28 F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft was cancelled in 2000. The NH90 helicopter has recently been ordered to replace Bell UH-1 Iroquois. The PAC CT/4 Airtrainer is locally produced.

Headquarters

Administrative

A new HQNZDF facility was opened by Prime Minister Helen Clark in March 2007[1]. The new facility on Aitken St in the Wellington CBD replaced the premises on Stout St that had been the headquarters of NZDF for nearly 75 years. The Aitken St facility is home to around 900 employees of the NZDF, the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service and the New Zealand Ministry of Defence.

HQNZDF operates as the administrative and support headquarters for the New Zealand Defence Force, with operational forces under the separate administrative command and control of HQJFNZ.

Joint Forces

The operational forces of the three services are directed from Headquarters Joint Forces New Zealand near Trentham Military Camp in Upper Hutt. From this building the Air Component Commander, Maritime Component Commander, and Land Component Commander exercise command over their forces. Commander Joint Forces New Zealand (COMJFNZ), currently Major General Rhys Jones, controls all overseas operational deployments and most overseas exercises.^[4]

Foreign Defence Relations

New Zealand and Australian military personnel boarding a United States Navy helicopter during a humanitarian aid mission to the Solomon Islands in 2007

See also: Foreign relations of New Zealand

New Zealand states it maintains a "credible minimum force," although critics (including the New Zealand National Party who have been the NZ Government's main opposition since the 1990s) maintain that the country's defence forces have fallen below this standard[2]. With a claimed area of direct strategic concern that extends from Australia to Southeast Asia to the South Pacific, and with defence expenditures that total around 1% of GDP, New Zealand necessarily places substantial reliance on co-operating with other countries, in particular Australia.

Acknowledging the need to improve its defence capabilities, the government in 2005 announced the Defence Sustainability Initiative allocating an additional NZ$4.6 billion over 10 years to modernize the country's defence equipment and infrastructure and increase its military personnel. The funding represented a 51% increase in defence spending since the Labour government took office in 1999.

New Zealand is an active participant in multilateral peacekeeping. It has taken a leading role in trying to bring peace, reconciliation, and reconstruction to the Solomon Islands and the neighboring island of Bougainville. New Zealand maintains a contingent in the Multinational Force and Observers and has contributed to UN peacekeeping operations in Angola, Cambodia, Somalia, and the former Yugoslavia. It also participated in the Multilateral Interception Force in the Persian Gulf. New Zealand's most recent peacekeeping experience has been in East Timor, where it initially dispatched almost 10% of its entire defence force and continues to be the second-largest force contributor.

New Zealand participates in sharing training facilities, personnel exchanges, and joint exercises with the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Brunei, Tonga, and South Pacific states. It also exercises with its Five Power Defence Arrangement partners - Australia, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and Singapore. Due to New Zealand's antinuclear policy, defence cooperation with the U.S., including training exercises, has been significantly restricted since 1986, when the ANZUS treaty defence obligations to NZ were suspended by the USA. However, New Zealand and the USA remain 'very, very good friends' ^[5] and the NZDF has served alongside the US Military in Afghanistan and Iraq in recent times - in 2004 the NZSAS were awarded a Presidential Unit Citation by US President George W Bush for "extraordinary heroism" in action.

Previous Chiefs

Chief of Defence Staff

• Rear-Admiral Sir Peter Phipps (1963-66) (first, from 1 July 1963)
• Lieutenant-General Sir Leonard Thornton (1965-1971)
• Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Webb (1971-1976)
• Air Marshal Sir Richard Bolt (1976-1980)
• Vice-Admiral Sir Neil Anderson (1980-1983)
• Air Marshal Sir Ewan Jamieson (1983-1986)
• Air Marshal David Crooks (1986-1987)
• Lieutenant-General Sir John Mace (1987-1991)

Chief of Defence Force

• Vice-Admiral Sir Somerford Teagle (1991-1995) (first, from 29 March 1991)
• Lieutenant-General Anthony Birks (1995-1999)
• Air Marshal Carey Adamson (1999-2001)
• Air Marshal Bruce Ferguson (2001-2006)
• Lieutenant-General Jerry Mateparae from 2006

See also

• List of New Zealand military bases
• New Zealand Defence College
• Current Royal New Zealand Navy ships
• List of ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy
• Royal New Zealand Navy Future Plans
• List of aircraft of the RNZAF and RNZN
• List of squadrons of the RNZAF
• New Zealand Cadet Forces

Notes

1. ↑ "New Zealand Armed Forces" (2007-07-01). Retrieved on 2008-07-16.
2. ↑ Background Note: New Zealand US Department of State
3. ↑ Jerry Mateparae: Can't fight? In fact we still punch above our weight - The New Zealand Herald, Monday 08 September 2008
4. ↑ "PROFILE: Major General Rhys Jones" (21 November 2007).
5. ↑ "Clark and Bush: focusing on the common ground", The Press (2007-03-19). Retrieved on 2007-05-06. 

References

• Rolfe, James (1999). The Armed Forces of New Zealand. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 186448800X. 
• Rolfe, James (2007). Cutting their cloth: New Zealand's defence strategy. Canberra: Australian Strategic Policy Institute. ISBN 9781921302107. http://www.aspi.org.au/publications/publication_details.aspx?ContentID=124. 
• New Zealand Defence Force