 |
| P-3K2 Orion (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons) |
By NICK LEE-FRAMPTON
Wellington, New Zealand — New Zealand’s Ministry of Defence has issued a request for information (RfI) for an “Underwater Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (UWISR)” system.
It may seem axiomatic that such an obviously maritime nation as New Zealand would maintain a credible anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability, yet in recent years the focus of the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s six Orion aircraft has been on overland intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
The missions system upgrade that marked the Orions’ transition from P-3K to P-3K2 status (in 2011) was accompanied by renaming the Maritime Patrol Force the Airborne Surveillance and Response Force.
In August 2008, Air Commodore Gavin Howse, then Air Component commander at Headquarters Joint Forces New Zealand, told Defense News, “we will still be able to do maritime surveillance, but the capabilities on board will make [the P-3K2] an excellent overland surveillance aircraft.”
Read the full story at DefenseNews