The Government will buy two air force jets and five naval helicopters as part of a $2.7 billion deal.
Defence Minister Judith Collins confirmed the Defence Force would be replacing its Seasprite helicopters and its two Boeing 757 jets, replacing them with helicopters carrying state-of-the-art weapons and jets that can fly from Wellington to Singapore.
The new aircraft would significantly speed up the ability for the air force to get across the globe, while giving the navy new advanced weaponry including “Hellfire air-surface missiles” and an “Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System”.
The air force’s two 757 planes would be replaced with two new Airbus A321XLR jets in 2028, for $700 million. Each of those extra long range planes would cost about $350m.
The navy has not been flying all eight of its seasprites. In recent years, air force mechanics have been pulling parts off three of them to keep the other five running.
At Parliament on Thursday morning, Ministry of Defence deputy secretary Sarah Minson said they had worked quickly to get these aircraft replaced.
There had been concerns about the age of the aircraft, with the existing planes and helicopters purchased second-hand by the Defence Force.
The Helen Clark-led Labour Government purchased the two Boeing 757-200s in 2003, from a Dutch airline that had been flying them since the early 1990s.
The passenger jets were retrofitted in 2007, so they could become multi-purpose aircraft. That modifications allowed the jets’ interiors to be altered for each mission, so the planes could become full cargo, mixed use, or even fitted out with business class suites to be used for VIP journeys.
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But the jets were 33 years old, Collins said, and they needed replacing. Their unreliability had made headlines. Last year, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon had to cancel meetings with Southeast Asian leaders in Melbourne due to mechanical issues.
The 757s were also used to transport troops to the UK, to train Ukrainian soldiers, and to evacuate New Zealanders following last year’s earthquake in Vanuatu.
Air Marshal Tony Davies, the chief of defence, said the new Airbus 321 XLR jets were “in a class of their own”.
“It's the longest range of all of the narrow body aircraft, and it was an obvious and sensible choice,” he said.
But he told Stuff the air force would not be modifying these new planes, like it had for the old Boeing fleet.
“We’re keeping the aircraft off-the-shelf, as standards as possible. For all intents and purposes, they will look, feel and smell exactly like any other airliner anywhere in the world.
“We can carry cargo underneath the floor, as most of aircraft do, but we won’t be cutting a hole in it and trying to make it a multi-role aircraft like the 757,” Davies said.
He said the air force would be able to rely on Air New Zealand to provide some maintenance, as they also operated a fleet of narrow body Airbus jets.
Collins said the new Seahawk helicopters would boost the navy’s ability to work with Australia and other armed forces.
“These five Seahawks will increase the offensive and defensive capability and surveillance range of New Zealand’s frigates and ensure we are interoperable with our ally Australia,” she said.
She said the two planes would be purchased through a lease to buy arrangement.
Greens question spending
Green Party defence spokesperson Teanau Tuiono said it was the wrong time for the Government to be investing billions into defence.
“We’ve got nurses striking, teachers striking, firefighters that are unhappy as well. Yet governments around the world seem to find money for military spending, but not enough to feed our kids,” he said.
He said he supported investment into maintaining the defence force, especially where it was able to work in humanitarian roles around the Pacific. But he said it was a concern that the Government had highlighted the “lethality” of the new Seahawk helicopters.
More upgrades on the way
In April, Collins outlined the Government’s $12 billion plan to invest in the Defence Force.
That Defence Capability Plan set out a path for New Zealand to double its relative spending on the defence force, up from 1% of GDP to 2%.
The first big ticket items on that list were these new naval helicopters and replacing the Boeing 757 fleet, used by the air force’s No 40 Squadron.
Over the next four years, the Defence Force also planned to continue upgrades to its software systems and build its space capability. It signalled further upgrades were needed for the navy’s frigates and javelin anti-tank missiles.
Major investments outlined for 2025-2028:
- Enhanced strike capabilities
- Frigate sustainment programme
- Persistent surveillance (uncrewed autonomous vessels)
- Replacing the maritime helicopters
- Javelin anti-tank missile upgrade
- Network enabled army
- Special operations sustainment
- Vehicles for the NZDF
- Counter uncrewed ariel systems (UAS)
- Long-range remotely piloted aircraft
- Replacing the Boeing 757 fleet
- Space capabilities
- Enhancing cyber security capabilities
- Enterprise resource planning
- Improving intelligence functions
- Updating classified digital services
- Accommodation, messing and dining modernisation
- Defence estate regeneration
- Defence housing programme
- Future Devonport naval base design
- Ohakea infrastructure programme
- Defence, Science and Technology uplift
- Technology accelerator
- Information management
- Digital modernisation
- Logistics resilience
- Consolidated Logistics Project Infrastructure
- Implementing a workforce strategy
