New Zealand is open to expanding its frigate fleet beyond its current two vessels, with New Zealand Minister of Defence Chris Penk saying “no options are off the table” as the government weighs buying new warships from Japan or the UK.
The government yesterday said it is looking to replace its two aging Anzac-class frigates, which were both commissioned almost 30 years ago. The UK’s Type 31 and Japan’s Mogami-class warships are the options under consideration.
Speaking in an interview, Penk said there is potential to increase the number of frigates the nation purchases.
Photo: AFP
“We need a certain amount of capability as a maritime nation,” he said. “We are also aware that there are uncrewed systems that could complement what’s provided by two or more frigates. It might be, for example, we have combat-capable ships in the form of frigates, but also the ability to carry drone systems.”
The move follows Australia’s multibillion-dollar deal to buy 11 Japanese Mogami-class frigates, a factor Penk said would weigh on New Zealand’s choice.
“The geopolitics will play a part in our consideration,” he said. “Namely, where Australia has a particular platform or system, our starting point is to ask whether it’s suitable to acquire exactly the same, and if so, then we will.”
Penk, who was appointed defense minister last month, said other factors, including capability and cost, would also shape the decision.
The New Zealand Defence Force has begun discussions with the Royal Australian Navy and the British Royal Navy, and would report its advice back to Cabinet before the end of next year, Penk said, adding that the timeline could be accelerated.
“We want to be agile, we know that the world is changing quickly,” Penk said. “I think it’s fair to observe that the security situation is deteriorating around the world. Within our region it’s the case that there’s considerable competition, and if that became contest or even conflict, then naturally we will want to have assured ourselves that we’ve moved as quickly as possible.”
The announcement comes as the government plans to lift defense spending to about 2 percent of GDP from about 1 percent, citing rising geopolitical tensions, such as Chinese warships conducting live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea last year.
SPEAKING OUT: After Siranudh Scott’s allegations surfaced, celebrities and public figures took to social media to share their own experiences of sexual misconduct and abuse A high-profile alleged sexual abuse case within a wealthy Thai beer brewing family has prompted a wave of painful accounts from survivors of unconnected abuse in the conservative nation. Siranudh Scott, a member of the billionaire Thai family that founded the ubiquitous Singha beer brand, posted an emotional video this month accusing his elder brother Sunit of repeatedly abusing him when he was a teenager. Sunit, who is in his 30s, later denied the allegations in a video posted online, but Singha parent Boonrawd dismissed him from his executive role with the company on Tuesday last week. “I felt I needed to speak
A Hong Kong astronaut is to join a Chinese space mission for the first time as part of a three-person crew launching today, as Beijing edges closer to its goal of landing people on the moon. The Tiangong space station — crewed by teams of three astronauts that are typically rotated every six months — is the crown jewel of China’s space program, boosted by billions in state investment in a bid to catch up with the US and Russia. The Shenzhou-23 mission is to blast off at 11:08pm from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, carrying three astronauts to
SEEKING ORDER: Rodrigo Paz said that ‘anyone who wants to destroy the nation will have to deal with this president and the full force of the constitution’ Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday said that the nation was at a “breaking point” after nearly a month of protests that have caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Paz, who took office six months ago amid the worst economic crisis there in four decades, is battling a groundswell of fury over his policies. The political capital, La Paz, has been besieged by low-income workers and members of the indigenous majority calling for his resignation. “The country needs order and is reaching breaking point,” the 58-year-old said at a public event in La Paz, renewing his appeal for dialogue. On Tuesday, the Bolivian
UPGRADED ALERT: The risk inside DR Congo is now considered ‘very high,’ while neighboring countries face a ‘high’ threat as the outbreak continues, the WHO said Ebola is spreading faster than responders can track it in eastern Congo, where health workers managed to follow up with barely one in five identified contacts in a single day. Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) reported 83 confirmed infections, 746 suspected cases and 1,603 identified contacts as of Thursday, but health workers were able to follow up on only 342 contacts that day — about 21 percent of the total under monitoring — data released by the DR Congo Ministry of Public Health on Friday showed. The figures suggest the response is falling behind the outbreak itself,
RSS