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Summarised by Centrist
A new regional defence proposal could see New Zealand re-enter the air-combat arena for the first time in more than 20 years.
This time with drones, not jets.
Australia is building what analysts call a “drone wall” to deter Chinese expansion across the Pacific, using layers of autonomous aircraft and sea drones to patrol thousands of kilometres offshore. Defence analyst Dr Malcolm Davis of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute told RNZ the system would work better if New Zealand “added a layer” of its own. “That would effectively plug-and-play into the Australian system, and we’d be working together to ensure the defence of both countries.”
Davis said Wellington could invest directly in Boeing’s Ghost Bat programme and “reconstitute its fixed-wing air-combat capabilities” without buying crewed fighters such as the F-35. The Ghost Bat—developed in Australia at a cost of A$1 billion—can fly more than 2800 kilometres and operate alongside traditional aircraft at roughly one-tenth the cost.
The story comes as New Zealand’s new Defence Industrial Strategy ranks drones second only to space among top priorities. The NZDF and the Space Agency have been ordered to produce a national plan for drones and counter-drone systems, and the force has tendered for a “technology accelerator” to fast-track foreign innovations into service.
“You would have forces both on the sea, under the sea and in the air, with support from satellites in orbit,” Davis said.
