Military Capability is the power to achieve a desired operational effect in a selected environment and to sustain that effect for a designated period. It is the combined effect that systems of inputs have in helping to achieve a particular operational consequence. Military capability goes beyond just equipment. Rather it includes all necessary components that, together, enable a military capability to achieve an operational effect. The elements that make up military capability are preparedness, and the components described by the acronym PRICIE as follows:
- Personnel (all personnel elements of the capability including personnel sustainment and individual training).
- Research and Development.
- Infrastructure/organisation/structures, all major infrastructural works projects.
- Concept of operations/doctrine/ collective training.
- Information/technology.
- Equipment and Logistics.
Military Capability comprises an amalgam of PRICIE and preparedness. PRICIE encompasses the quantitative dimension of NZDF Outputs, and preparedness is the qualitative dimension. While PRICIE comprises many components, as shown above, for simplicity of reporting the NZDF will focus on two major quantitative elements, Personnel and Equipment. Together, these are termed force structure. The relationship between force structure and preparedness is shown in the following diagram:
Preparedness
The ability of the NZDF output expense force elements to be employed on military tasks is a function of the preparedness state in which they are held. That is, force elements must be held at a level of capability from which they can be raised to an operational status within a specified time, then deployed for the conduct of a particular type of military task and be sustained for a specified period while engaged in that task. Within the NZDF there are four ingredients of preparedness - Readiness; Combat Viability; Deployability; and Sustainability. These are defined as follows:
- Readiness. Readiness is the current proficiency and effectiveness of a force to conduct a range of activities defined against a Directed Level of Capability and Employment Context, and that provide options for employment on military tasks within a specified Response Time. The force readiness comprises personnel, trained state (individual and unit), equipment held, and equipment condition (serviceability), and includes tactical command, control, communications and intelligence.
- Combat Viability. Combat Viability is the in-theatre ability of a force to achieve its military task or mission using current resources. It incorporates the following:
- the ability of service personnel to engage in combat with due regard to morale, leadership, and a sense of mission;
- the sufficiency of equipment and its design/technology standards to provide firepower, protection to personnel and other battlefield attributes to the level required by the threat;
- the adequacy of military doctrine and tactics to make effective use of personnel and equipment;
- the standard of collective or combined training;
- the ability of the force to achieve the level and duration of fighting to achieve its objectives; and
- the effectiveness of standardisation when working with friendly forces.
- Deployability. Deployability is the capacity of a force element to move to an Operational Level of Capability, complete final preparations, and assemble for deployment within a specified time. Effected deployability includes the completion of OLOC generation training, preparation of deployment equipment and munitions, and positioning personnel and equipment for embarkation by air or sea.
- Sustainability. Sustainability is the ability to support a designated force at operating tempo throughout the duration of an operation. It includes the availability of replacement personnel, equipment maintenance, sufficiency of second and third line stocks, and the lift capacity to carry them into theatre and to those force elements requiring them.
Level(s) of Capability
Using the Employment Contexts it is possible to establish the Operational Level of Capability (OLOC) that a force element needs to have reached in order to carry out its military tasks effectively. For a force element to be at its OLOC for a particular Employment Context means that it has the requisite preparedness state, i.e., the force element is ready, combat viable, deployable and sustainable. The OLOC requirements for all NZDF force elements are detailed within Schedule 4 of the NZDF Output Plan.
A force element can be held at differing levels of capability. The quantitative dimension, i.e. force structure, cannot be varied on an annual basis given the long-term nature of defence investment decisions. However, the qualitative dimension can be varied by dictating the preparedness at which the force element is held, and may differ for particular Employment Contexts.
To hold a unit at OLOC on a routine basis is expensive and demanding on equipment readiness and personnel availability. Accordingly, in defining the Employment Contexts and determining the likely tasks to be performed by a particular force element, it is possible to derive the likely time that the force element will have before it must be deployed and start operations once committed by Government. This time, known as the Response Time, can be used to raise the level of capability of the force element from some lower level to OLOC. Response Time gives the force time to: assemble and concentrate its personnel, stores and equipment; undergo additional individual and collective training; and carry out specific planning for operations. That is, time to make it available for deployment to a particular area of operations.
Response Times will vary depending on the plausible setting (Employment Context) in which the force element may be used. For example, the Response Time for the Counter-Terrorist forces is very short, meaning that they must be immediately available for such military tasks, while the Response Time for force element contributions to a battalion group is longer and their day-to-day readiness can be designated accordingly. The longer the Response Time a force element has, the lower the level of capability, up to a point, that the force element has to maintain on a routine basis. Response Times for individual force elements for likely contingencies are detailed in Schedule 4 to the NZDF Output Plan (a classified document).
Once the actions required to generate OLOC within Response Time are known, it is possible to derive the level of capability that must be held by the force element on a routine basis (day-to-day business as usual training), and this is known as the Directed Level of Capability (DLOC). It is this level of capability that the NZDF is funded to maintain during each financial year in order to provide the Government with options for the commitment of military forces. In purchasing this level of capability the Government retains in the NZDF the essential minimum capacity from which operationally effective force elements may be generated within agreed Response Times.
When a force element is activated to perform a military task, additional funding may be required to enable that force element to transition from DLOC to OLOC (i.e., to resource the additional training and stores usage) for the deployment and for the sustainment of the activated force element for the expected duration of the operation.
In exceptional circumstances (for example for personnel, technical, or financial reasons), the CDF may grant approval, for a specified period, for a force element to maintain a lower level of capability than would otherwise be desirable. The lowest level of capability is Basic Level of Capability (BLOC). This is the minimum level at which military capabilities have to be held if they are not to be lost. At this level a force element could not reach an OLOC in less than six months, so will not generally be available for military tasks.
As a result of equipment modernisation action, commissioning or decommissioning, a force element may not be able to achieve a level of capability. In this case it is classified as at No Level of Capability (NLOC) and would not be expected to be available for military tasks.
The quantitative dimension of outputs, i.e. Manpower and Equipment, represent fixed costs in the short term and thus cannot provide a sensitive mechanism for varying the amount and cost of the NZDF’s annual product. However, as a general statement the outputs’ qualitative dimensions, i.e. its preparedness state can be varied in the short term. For example, these can be adjusted on an annual basis by increasing or decreasing the amount of readiness training activities undertaken by a force element which will vary the consumption rate of items such as fuel and munitions used during such training. However, there is a minimum level of readiness training activities that need to be undertaken on an annual basis to keep units viable.
Varying the training activities has a direct impact on the DLOC of a force element, i.e., if training activities are reduced, then the DLOC is reduced and the force element would:
- not be able to generate OLOC in the specified Response Time; or,
- require the Response Time to be increased to allow for the extra activities that would need to be undertaken to generate OLOC.
In summary to the above, the qualitative dimensions of NZDF outputs offers the potential to vary in the short term (i.e. on an annual basis) the cost of what the NZDF can be tasked to produce. However, there are consequences to making such choices as any extension to Response Time, for example, has an increased activation cost in that more activities have to be undertaken to raise the force element from DLOC to OLOC, and there is a risk that force elements may not be available in time to provide military options to Government.
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