A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon plane has launched Harpoon missiles for the first time, in a major international exercise near Guam.
The aircraft and crew successfully detected, identified, and fired two guided missiles at a decommissioned target ship, with both weapons hitting the target, New Zealand Defence Force said in a statement on Wednesday.
The live-fire exercise was part of Exercise Valiant Shield, a multi-domain training operation involving aircraft, ships, and submarines from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Japan, and the United States.
The exercise used weapons fired from the air, surface vessels, and submarines to sink the ship. Footage of the missile attack can be viewed in the video at the top of the page.
“This exercise marked a significant step forward for the RNZAF with the first successful launch of air-to-surface missiles by our P-8A,” Air Component Commander, Air Commodore Andy Scott said.
“These activities are critical to the New Zealand Defence Force’s readiness to be able to meet the challenges of a deteriorating strategic environment, and we are incredibly grateful for the support of partners to assist us in regenerating the ability to rapidly strike targets at distance.”
The aircraft can be armed with anti-ship guided missiles used to strike targets accurately from at least 100km away. The successful firing of the missiles, supplied by the Australian Defence Force, demonstrates the fleet’s utility as a strike capability against surface targets.
Air Commodore Scott said the exercise was the “culmination of a lot of work across multiple parts of Defence”.
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Aircraft captain, Squadron Leader Michael Craies, said the missile firing success was the result of a large team effort.
“As we felt the weapons fall from the airframe, and watched the Harpoon missiles strike their target, we knew it was the work of so many people across the RNZAF, and our partners that made it possible,” Craies said.
The first successful Harpoon firing from our P-8A is a testament to our armament, maintenance, and logistics personnel.”
The coordinated missile firings between the New Zealand crew and two US Navy crews highlighted the ability to work seamlessly with a partner, Craies said.
“When the time came for our firing, the professionalism of all three P-8A crews involved meant that we were able to rapidly acquire the target and fire four Harpoons in total.”
This is the first time a New Zealand Poseidon has taken part in Valiant Shield, which started in 2006 and is in its 11th iteration this year.
The countries involved worked closely together to test tactics and procedures, and develop interchangeability and interoperability in the air, space, sea, land, and cyberspace domains, Defence Force said.
During the anti-submarine warfare phase of the exercise, the New Zealand crew operated as part of a task force to find, track, and conduct simulated torpedo attacks against multiple submarines.
The task force included an Australian aircraft, United States Navy aircraft, a Canadian frigate, two Japanese vessels, and a United States carrier strike group.
