{"id":64912,"date":"2026-05-09T20:33:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T18:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=64912"},"modified":"2026-05-15T23:12:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T21:12:28","slug":"the-rearming-of-the-new-zealand-defence-force-in-the-face-of-the-growing-threat-from-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2026\/05\/09\/the-rearming-of-the-new-zealand-defence-force-in-the-face-of-the-growing-threat-from-china\/","title":{"rendered":"The rearming of the New Zealand Defence Force in the face of the growing threat from China"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The expansionism of communist China in the South Pacific region has led New Zealand to implement a major rearmament process.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><rel><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2026\/01\/20\/the-spectacular-video-of-an-australian-pilot-performing-aerobatics-in-a-super-hornet-fighter\/\">The spectacular video of an Australian pilot performing aerobatics in a Super Hornet fighter<\/a><\/rel><br \/>\n<rel><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2025\/12\/31\/ea-18g-growler-the-us-and-australian-plane-that-fights-in-the-electromagnetic-spectrum\/\">EA-18G Growler, the US and Australian plane that fights in the electromagnetic spectrum<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n<p>A few days ago, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@NZDefenceForce\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the New Zealand Defence Force<\/a> <strong>released an impressive video showcasing its arsenal, both on land, at sea, and in the air.<\/strong> It's a considerable arsenal for a country of 5.32 million inhabitants, but it lacks some capabilities:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Land, Air &amp; Sea | New Zealand Defence Force\" width=\"665\" height=\"374\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nH6HQmRmy28?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In April 2025, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.beehive.govt.nz\/release\/multi-billion-dollar-defence-plan-unveiled\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the New Zealand government unveiled a plan to modernize its Armed Forces<\/a> (officially called the New Zealand Defence Force, \"Te Ope Katua o Aotearoa\" in M\u0101ori) <strong>with a budget of NZ$12 billion (approximately \u20ac6.35 billion)<\/strong>, of which NZ$9 billion was allocated to new expenditures. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, a Conservative, stated: <em>\"<strong>Global tensions are increasing rapidly, and New Zealand has stepped up on the world stage<\/strong>, but our current Defence spending is simply too low.\"<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55259544995_9cf1926cbd_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55259544995_da166cd43d_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>With the new investments, <strong>New Zealand's defense spending will rise from just over one percent of GDP to more than two percent over the next eight years.<\/strong> In addition to purchasing new defense systems, such as more <strong>P-8A Poseidon<\/strong> maritime patrol aircraft (above), C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft (below), and <strong>Airbus A321XLR<\/strong> and <strong>MH-60R Seahawk<\/strong> multi-purpose helicopters for the Navy, this plan includes strengthening New Zealand's defense alliance with its largest ally and main neighbor, Australia, and <strong>acquiring a more lethal and deterrent combat capability<\/strong>. These are challenges that will not be easy.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55259544985_c814d07260_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55259544985_165c6893a3_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>The New Zealand Defence Force has endured 25 years of cuts.<\/strong> Relying on the protection provided by Australia, the country has neglected its military resources, which is evident in its air power. <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Disbandment_of_the_RNZAF_air_combat_force\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">In 2001, Helen Clark's Labour government stripped the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) of its air combat capabilities<\/a>, <strong>retiring its last A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft<\/strong> and its Aermacchi MB-339 training aircraft, and canceling Jenny Shipley's Conservative government's 1998 plan to lease 28 F-16 A\/B fighter jets from the United States.<\/strong> <strong>Since then, the RNZAF has focused on maritime patrol and providing support to the Navy and Army.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55259373234_d2d4eb41d4_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55259373234_386f2d0f9d_b.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>New Zealand has been able to afford this luxury because it is so far from the major powers<\/strong>. The mere fact of deploying forces to that remote country would be a major problem for any hostile nation, <strong>but the Navy of communist China is reaching ever farther<\/strong> and already possesses a CATOBAR aircraft carrier (similar to those operated by the US Navy), the \"Fujian\", with a length of 321.5 meters. <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/List_of_active_Royal_New_Zealand_Navy_ships\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Royal New Zealand Navy has only eight main ships<\/a> <strong>and of these, only two are frigates, the HMNZS Te Kaha (pictured above) and the HMNZS Te Mana<\/strong>, both of the Anzac class (Australia has seven frigates of this type). In October 2025, the Royal New Zealand Navy expressed interest in Japan's Mogami-class stealth frigates, but their acquisition has not yet been confirmed.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/54157904263_7854b3ffa6_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/54157904263_7854b3ffa6_o.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Finally, <strong>the New Zealand Army is renewing its vehicle fleet<\/strong>, a process in which Spain plays an important role, despite being on the other side of the world. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzdf.mil.nz\/army\/army-news\/army-and-nzdf-set-to-welcome-new-workhorse-utility-vehicle\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">In November 2024, New Zealand announced the purchase of 60 VAMTAC vehicles<\/a>, specifically 40 VAMTAC CK3 light trucks (above) and 20 VAMTAC ST-5s (below). This model is manufactured in Spain by the Galician company UROVESA. In addition, <strong>New Zealand recently acquired<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzdf.mil.nz\/nzdf\/our-equipment\/military-vehicles\/armoured-bushmaster-vehicle\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">43 Bushmaster NZ 5.5 armored vehicles<\/a>, which serve to reinforce the capabilities of its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzdf.mil.nz\/nzdf\/our-equipment\/military-vehicles\/new-zealand-light-armoured-vehicle-nzlav\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">73 NZLAV infantry fighting vehicles<\/a>, an adapted version of the LAV III.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/54157620116_8984312bc5_b.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/54157620116_8984312bc5_c.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>---<\/p>\n<p><small>Photos: NZ Defence Force\ufeff.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The expansionism of communist China in the South Pacific region has led New Zealand to implement a major rearmament process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[19534,11550,10373],"tags":[23076,13907,27036,27030,27031,27033,27037,19117,23143,27035,17125,8144,27032,19930,1602,23144],"class_list":["post-64912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-defense-portada-eng","category-defense","category-world","tag-airbus-a321xlr","tag-boeing-p-8-poseidon","tag-bushmaster-protected-mobility-vehicle","tag-christopher-luxon","tag-helen-clark","tag-hmnzs-te-kaha","tag-mogami-class","tag-new-zealand-army","tag-new-zealand-defence-force","tag-nzlav","tag-peoples-republic-of-china","tag-royal-new-zealand-air-force","tag-royal-new-zealand-navy","tag-sikorsky-mh-60-seahawk","tag-uro-vamtac","tag-vamtac-ck3"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-30 17:30:04","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64912\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}