By NICK LEE-FRAMPTON
WELLINGTON — With only a small fleet of aircraft and relatively few warships, it was inevitable that upgrading all these platforms would have an impact on availability which, in its annual report for 2012-13, the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) acknowledges.
Indeed, although the hangar time of its five C-130H Hercules and six P-3 Orions and the systems upgrades to its two Anzac-class frigates have led, respectively, to reduced flying hours and days at sea, personnel shortages, especially in the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN), also have had an adverse effect.
However, as Chief of Defence Force Lt. Gen. Rhys Jones points out in his overview to the report, published last week, the past year marked “an important shift” in operational focus for the NZDF.
“Drawing down from our more than decadelong commitments to a number of high-intensity operations [including Afghanistan, the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste] is in turn allowing the NZDF to accelerate change, providing a greater focus on our region — the South West Pacific and South East Asia — and developing and introducing new capabilities as the NZDF moves towards an integrated Joint Force Amphibious Capability in 2015,” Jones writes.
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