New Zealand is buying five new Seahawk maritime helicopters from the US for $400 million each, when Australia recently paid $82m each for the same choppers.

A deal between the two governments is underway to spend more than $NZ2 billion on five helicopters.

It is the first big item of shopping under the $12b Defence Capability Plan, but there are concerns that the government is paying too much for the equipment.

But Defence commentator Dr Mark Obren said while the price was high, the reasons were not straightforward.

"It is a smart buy, even despite the money - what's not smart is only buying five of them," said Obren.

Whether the military bought one or 10 airframes, it had to set up a very expensive platform of parts and a supply chain for those, maintenance skills, training and support. All of it had to be built from scratch because the Seahawks were all-new here, he said.

It is a smart buy, even despite the money - what's not smart is only buying five of them

"Probably 75 percent of the contract is for the establishment of the platform, and only 25 percent of it is actually the airframes."

Buying eight - to replace the eight old existing Seasprites - instead of just five would just slash the per-unit cost, and also mean less airtime and stress on each individual chopper, so they would last longer, Obren said.

On the upside, the Seahawks would be much more lethal, which is what Defence Minister Judith Collins has said she wanted.

This is despite their anti-ship Hellfire missiles having only a third of the range of the Penguin missiles on the Seasprites (34km).

"There is a cost-benefit aspect to the helicopter purchase that has not been well communicated, as the aircraft are a force multiplier to the frigates in particular," Obren said.

What others paid

The price of each Seahawk for New Zealand works out at about $US230m.

Specs and delivery details would impact on the final contract price, expected to be set next year.

The NZDF said it included operating costs - possibly $30,000 an hour, according to US documents - spares, support equipment, weapons, training, future infrastructure design costs, and temporary infrastructure to house the aircraft.

Other countries had set up Seahawk deals for much less in recent years. These also included support, parts and training, according to reports at the time (figures in $US, with no accounting for inflation):

• Australia in 2022 - 12 choppers at $82m each
• Spain in 2022-23 - eight choppers at $118m each
• India in 2019 - 24 choppers at $108m each
• South Korea in 2019 - 12 choppers at $66m each

Apples and oranges

Nick Childs, a senior fellow on maritime security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said there were lots of unknowns in such deals.

"You do have to be careful that you are not comparing apples and oranges... you know, stocks of weapons, what types of weapons," Childs told RNZ.

Australia benefited in its 2022 deal from having a platform set up already for the Seahawks and Blackhawks it bought earlier.

South Korea also had a deal for eight Seahawks for a billion dollars in 2012.

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Obren said the US would sometimes waive research and development costs from sales, but it appeared not to have done so for Australia or NZ - or for NATO, where the Trump Administration now saw arms sales as much more of a business opportunity.

"The idea of cheaper equipment provided because we're part of the boys' club, is coming to an end."

Other drivers

The government has assured the public it was using the best US government channels to get the best Seahawks deal, though analysts agree it is a bad time to be going arms shopping.

Defence Secretary Brook Barrington, at the Seahawk announcement last month, laid out how the Cabinet's approval - without having to go to tender - sped things up and saved money.

It meant the US government would now negotiate with Lockheed Martin on NZ's behalf.

"The essence of that is that the US has more weight and more bulk and more demand so they can drive the unit price down, so we will end up with a better price," Barrington said.

"We have said to the United States that we are interested in getting the helicopters as quickly as we can for the best price we can."

'Quite a scramble'

But that "best price" is shifting.

It is being propelled by global demand from militaries world-wide, sparked by the Ukraine war, US pressure and Indo-Pacific volatility, Childs said.

"All of a sudden there's been quite a scramble.

"The market is suddenly awash with people demanding certain types of capabilities... for defensive purposes, but also... to increase lethality."

Seahawks provided lethal anti-submarine weaponry, he noted.

Were governments worried about getting less bang for their buck, as demand to get equipment quickly pushed up prices?

Yes, he said. "That is probably, you know, a fear generally."

Childs said there did not appear to be special deals on the table for partners, such as between the Five Eyes intelligence group nations.

"If you look at some of the purchases that there have been, you wouldn't necessarily say that."

'Financing options' from US

The Trump administration has been rolling out initiatives to boost foreign arms sales this year, including "improving financing options for partners".

But NZ officials have expressed little interest in this to RNZ. While they were "monitoring" Trump's moves, New Zealand had had no input and they did not know if the country was on a new US priority partner list.

Obren said this was Treasury's call, not the NZ Defence Force's, and he had seen no sign it was abreast of the latest US arms sales moves.

Barrington, however, said at the Beehive last month that the Foreign Military Sales programme the Seahawks came under would provide the best deal with the US.

'They are desperate'

The consensus is that the Seahawks come at a premium.

This is not just on the ticket price but for parts and maintenance, which New Zealand might not be able to tap into in Australia, as it does with the P8 Poseidons.

But the premium does buy alignment with partners, and easy access to technology upgrades, Obren said.

The win was not the price itself, but just getting a safe place in the queue when American arm makers were so busy.

"It's hard to get you bumped off that list because you're effectively now part of the club.

"This is something that should have been dealt with five to 10 years ago.

"It hasn't been and they are desperate, and they've got to get a solution in play as quick as they can. And this is a pragmatic way of doing it."

This scenario - of being a desperate buyer in a red-hot market - may come to characterise how shopping for the defence capability plan plays out.