- For Output Expenses 2-14 (Navy, Army, Air Force)
The following is a summary of the performance standards achieved for Navy, Army and Air Force outputs. More detailed information on the performance of individual outputs is shown in the following pages in this section.
Overall, force elements were prepared to meet contemporary security threats.
Navy – Output Expenses 2-6
Naval Combat Forces, Naval Support Forces, Mine Countermeasures (MCM) and MCM Diving Forces, and Military Hydrography and Hydrographic Data Collection achieved most of their performance targets.
During the reporting period, the Navy’s new Amphibious Sealift Force, HMNZS Canterbury, continued with its operational release and therefore was not expected to fully achieve all its performance targets. The ship had certified safety boats fitted and was still subject to contract and warranty provisions. Nevertheless, the ship is demonstrating its value-add to the Defence Force with ship and crew already having participated in a number of significant exercises, including Exercise Tropic Twilight in the Cook Islands and Exercise Sea Lion in Australia.
The diving vessels HMNZS Ships Manawanui and Kahu, along with other ships, undertook MAO&T support and EEZ patrols, compensating for the late arrival of the Navy’s four new Inshore Patrol Vessels and the yet to be delivered Offshore Patrol Vessels.
Personnel were available for tasks. In some trades shortages of experienced personnel still exist. With the introduction of new ships into service with Project Protector, the Navy has anticipated pressure in meeting full crew requirements across the fleet, and responded by reviewing rank, branch and trade structures for both officers and ratings. In addition, Navy has focused on recruitment and retention strategies and reports both recruiting success rates have improved and Navy attrition has dropped.
Army – Output Expenses 7-10
The requirement to provide a company group for EC 1 and 2 tasks was exceeded with an infantry company group fully prepared for tasks under EC 1, while concurrently sustaining deployments to Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands and Afghanistan. These deployments in effect almost equated to a light infantry-sized battalion group. To surge to an infantry battalion group during the reporting period would have required the redeployment of resources from Timor-Leste and Afghanistan.
While responses to higher-threat situations were not required during the reporting period, training and equipping for these events is ongoing. Exercise Cooperative Spirit, held in Germany, demonstrated effective interoperability with coalition forces.
Teams were available to respond to CBRE IEDD tasks within New Zealand and this capability continued to grow over the reporting period. 1 NZSAS Group was available to conduct special operations and a counter terrorist group and counter terrorist assault group were prepared to assist the NZ Police, if required.
Air Force – Output Expenses 11-14
Aircraft and crews were capable of being deployed within response times to conduct operations in low threat environments. However, the ongoing modernisation of a large number of aircraft created challenges in reaching targets for medium or higher threat military operations. Significant milestones included completion of the B757 fleet modification and progress was achieved with the P3K Orion upgrade and C-130 Hercules life extension programmes. The introduction of the NH90 medium utility helicopter will address the operating limitations of the current Iroquois fleet.
Effective standardisation with other forces was achieved with participation in exercises such as Maple Guardian in Canada and Swift Eagle in Australia, and regular support flights to Afghanistan. Air Force attrition is low. Despite this, in some trades shortages of experienced technical personnel remain, however, this is being addressed through targeted recruitment and retention initiatives.
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