New Zealand awards contract for $500 Million Dollar Project "Protector".

[Aussie Digger]

Project Protector


(Source: New Zealand Ministry of Defence; issued Aug. 6, 2004)


The Ministers of Defence and Finance announced on 30 July that the contract had been signed between the Government and ship builders Tenix Limited for the construction of seven new ships to be operated by the Navy.

At a brief ceremony today held with Tenix, Ministers welcomed this next stage of the project. The Minister of Finance, Dr Michael Cullen, said the $NZ500 million project is part of the approved Long Term Development Plan for the New Zealand Defence Force.

The Minister of Defence, Mark Burton is very pleased that the project is now under way.

“It is planned that the Multi Role Vessel (MRV), two Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) and four Inshore Patrol Vessels (IPVs) will enter service over the next 3 years.

“They will represent a significant increase in the Government’s capability to meet military and civilian responsibilities throughout New Zealand’s extensive EEZ, in the South Pacific and in the Southern Ocean.

“They will fulfil a broad range of requirements including personnel and cargo sealift, emergency response, fisheries and customs patrols and at sea training for the Royal New Zealand Navy.â€

The Minister of Defence said a whole of government approach had been followed from the inception of the project and during the tender evaluation phase.

“The ships will be operated by the Navy and used for military purposes as well as meeting the needs of a number of other Government agencies.

Each ship will have designated facilities for staff from other agencies who will embark when required for different operations.

The MRV will have accommodation for up to fifty Army and Air Force personnel as part of the ship’s company and further space for up to 250 soldiers together with their vehicles and stores to carry them on operational deployments.

It will have the capability to carry an Infantry Company including its Light Armoured Vehicles and other equipment and will have the capacity to move New Zealand Defence Force equipment for operations like the recent Solomon Islands and East Timor deployments.

The ship will also be fitted out to enable humanitarian and emergency responses involving multi-agency personnel and equipment, in the South Pacific.

Both the MRV and the OPVs will be ice strengthened for operations in the Southern ocean and the Ross Sea and will also have the capability to embark Seasprite helicopters, which will enhance their ability to undertake maritime patrol tasks.

-ends-

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cg....1082089861.QH9hhcOa9dUAAAaJKqU&modele=jdc_34


What has not been announced is the armament thes ships will possess. The MRV is replacing the Leander Class Frigate currently operated by New Zealand. I would assume given it's role, it will be armed with a close in protection system and possibly a fire support capability such as a 5 inch gun. No announcements have been made however. Likewise with the OPV's I would assume being an 1800ton class ship (ie: Corvette size) they could possess a considerable armament to support NZ's current 2 ANZAC frigates. Again no announcements have been made...

 

[Aussie Digger]

ADI Contracted to Supply MSI Gun Systems for Project Protector

(Source: ADI Ltd.; issued March 3, 2005)

ADI Limited (Australia) has been awarded the contract to supply the main gun systems for the New Zealand Ministry of Defence’s Project Protector program by the lead contractor, Tenix Defence Pty Ltd.

The systems are the MSI DS25M designed by MSI-Defence Systems, UK. This modern modular design enables a smaller calibre gun system to be configured in virtually any format to meet the full spectrum of potential naval configurations, from manned, with basic sighting, to full autonomous control by a ship’s systems or control at a remote station.

The systems for the Protector vessels will incorporate the ATK 25mm M242 Bushmaster cannon, common to the NZ Army’s light armoured vehicles, giving the navy commonality of ammunition and cannon training and support.

“ADI has chosen to continue collaborating with MSI to offer new supply and through life support for the MSI modular gun systems. Previously we produced six 30mm MSI gun systems for the Royal Australian Navy's Huon Class minehunters,†said Mr Lucio Di Bartolomeo, ADI’s managing director.

“ADI considers the MSI modular gun system as the best in the market. It is extremely well designed, very robust, while maintaining a lightweight footprint.

“Its marinisation is excellent. This is critical in achieving reliability and low through life costs. This has resulted in a system capable of withstanding the pounding from heavy seas and green water exposure while then continuing to deliver the best reliability and availability of the systems currently available in the market.â€

MSI has well over a hundred units in service with a range of navies.

Tenix was awarded the Protector Project in July 2004 after an extensive competition involving over 25 shipbuilders worldwide. The Protector fleet will comprise one multi role vessel, two offshore patrol vessels and four inshore patrol vessels to be progressively delivered in 2006 and 2007. The MSI gun systems will be installed on the MRV and the two offshore patrol vessels. Tenix tendered the MSI gun in its baseline offer to the MoD and has been negotiating with ADI to conclude these contractual arrangements now in place.

ADI Limited is a major supplier to the Australian and New Zealand Navy and Army of small arms and medium and large calibre guns systems. It provides logistic support for the majority of the ADF’s gun systems. ADI is also the primary supplier of munitions to the ADF. It constructs and maintains naval ships; designs and integrates combat systems, aviation mission systems and naval communications equipment; designs and manufactures high mobility and protected military and emergency response vehicles.

MSI-Defence Systems is a major company within the UK based MS International Group with its head office and manufacturing facility in Norwich, UK and an important support establishment in Weymouth, UK. It plays a leading role in the design, development and supply of naval systems unrivalled in reliability, flexibility and performance.

-ends-

Well so much for the NZ MOD's stated desire to use these ships for military purposes. This armament will make these ships suitable for basic patrol duties only. They will apparently possess no other defensive armament other than machine guns, meaning even the MRV cannot be used in even a low threat zone... Some replacement for the Leander Class frigate...

 

[nz enthusiast]

What alot of people dont realise is that between 1998 and 2000 be had a ship that was alot like what the MRV will be, it was called the Charles Upham, a pretty famous Nz soldier from world war 2. The problem was that when the ship was loaded it would have real balance problems, The Australian company that is making the multi role vessel said that it could fix the charles upham for under 100 million Nz dollars, the labour government which had to make the decision declined it. So that means in my view that the MRV is actually taking the place of the Charles upham giving the Nz military sealift capability. So if thats the case, what is really replacing the canterbury, two off shore patrol boats. (the 4 inshore patrol boats being purchased are actually replacing the current fleet of four).

 

[amatsunz]

since when was a transport ship a replacement for a friget? and since when did costal patrol vessels have the same capibilites as frigets. I would like to say that the answer is more ANZACs but whats the point, the only offensive system on the boat is a 5inch gun, all that technology and cost to get 1 5inch gun to sea! no wonder the Auzzies get anoyed. Theodore Roosevelt once said "Speak softly and carry a big stick" I Think Helen Clark "Shouts loudly and runs to the Aussies to hide behind there stick"

 

[Aussie Digger]

Amatsunz, do you know if NZ has any plans to equip it's ANZAC frigates with Harpoon missiles as Australia is doing now?

 

[nz enthusiast]

Aussie digger, in a defence review done in the year 2000, there was the recommendation that New Zealands anzac class friagtes be armed with surface to surface missiles, a better electronic wafare kit, better torpedos and an upgrade of weaponary on the seasprite. NONE of this has happened yet, the government is pretty much saying we only want two hopeless frigates.
People need to understand that Helen Clark is very very strong pacifist (hates war so much that she doesn't care about her own defence). She hasn't actually purchased a single piece of weaponary while in power. When New Zelands skyhwaks arrived at the port in 1970 she was down there waving a communist flag. This is actually only a rumour but people say there are photos around to prove it.

All the weapons that have arrived in New Zealand to date were actually ordered in 1999 under a mass purchase scheme, the next mass purchase was supposibly 2002-2004 which included a frigate upgrade and the looking into of anothe frigate of the navy had the numbers.

 

[Supe]

People need to understand that Helen Clark is very very strong pacifist (hates war so much that she doesn't care about her own defence).

Clark's sending NZSAS on their third deployment to Afghanistan could hardly be described as the policy of a pacifist.

We should all abhor and hate war. War is waste. We also don't live in a perfect world and a government has to develop Defence policies that is sound, affordable and credible. Having said that, NZ government needs to obtain some teeth for their military. I think it was commented in another thread that the Orion fleet have little or no offensive capability. If correct, then it is something that needs to be addressed.

 

[Aussie Digger]

The RNZAF P-3K's possess an air launched torpedo capability AFAIK, however the RNZAF (apart from the SH-2G Super Seasprites with the AGM-65 Maverick missiles) possess no air to surface weapons capability of any significance whatsoever.

The Torpedo's operated by RNZAF (Mk 46's I believe) are an obsolete design and are increasingly expensive to support and provide no standoff capability. The RNZAF aso possess no capability to provide fire support for it's ground forces and only extremely limited firepower for it's Naval Forces.

Yes, the NZ Defence forces are desined for peace-keeing missions only (which is what Afghanistan has basically become) but the ability to "keep" the peace comes from an inate ability to "make" or enforce peace if necessary. NZ currently does not possess a combat capability significant enough to enforce peace anywhere besides an environment where the peace is disrupted by persons armed with small arms only, ie: (such as the Solomon Islands)...

If the situation were any worse than that NZ armed forces would require significant levels of assistance from other countries simply to be able to operate safely, let alone effectively. If there were any sort of air or naval threat whatsoever, NZ would be effectively sidelined until the "bigger" boys could sort the threat out. It's hardly a foreign policy that is going to ingratiate NZ with it's allies... I can only hope that reasonable politicians are elected in the near future. I'd hate to see NZ forces deployed on ops they just weren't up to, due to political imperatives at home...

 

[EnigmaNZ]

Guess that what happens when one's senior leaders are all hard left woman, mind you, at least the NZ's forces are being upgraded, though losing the air combat role is annoying, as is losing 2 frigates, but having the defence budget fall below 1% when the world is entering a sustained period of instabilty is short sighted. Funny how fast the government moved to spend $NZ300m on 2 757's to carry them around, when $NZ500m for a frigate was deemed excessive.

 

[nz enthusiast]

Yes and do you know what those two 757s do many....they transport Helen on her obsessive travels.

 

[Supe]

I thought this opinion piece would interest folks here:

New Zealand's niche force is smart defence

Clark's decision was a realistic response to the simple economic facts. Even if NZ spent as much of its GDP on defence as Australia does, its smaller economy simply could not sustain a modern, operationally meaningful frontline combat air force. Nor could it afford an operationally independent fleet of modern warships. So it has made perfect sense to concentrate NZ's efforts on the key niches in which it thinks it can make the best contribution.

Do you think this guy has a point? Even if NZ defence budget was doubled would it be able to sustain a Four frigate Navy and a relatively modern airforce..assuming the Kiwis went with the F16's?

 

[nz enthusiast]

I reckon the real problem for us isn't money it would be getting enough people wanting to be a part of the New Zealand military. There is a very negative atitude in New Zealand secondary schools against an army, navy or air force career and I know becuase I am a New Zealand secondary school student. A military job is thought to be a dumb job that the idiots do, also the pay of they avergae person in the defence force is real low.
You do know that the labour government promised to spend 3 billion extra before 2005, it has only spent 2 billion, in my view they are just a bunch of liars.
New Zealand government had a surplus of $7.6 billion last year we could afford to have F-35s when they came out if we want to, But that won't happen because we have an over vocal group of hippies who will do anything to stop us being a creditable partner to Australia.
In my view the problem isn't money its purely political. Labour is too narrow minded and selfish and they don't seem to want to fix the morale issue in the NZDF.

 

[EnigmaNZ]

He has a point, depends whether one funds defence or social spending, left wing governments prefer the later. I agree with a lot of what Helen has done for defence, just wish it didn't mean winding up the areas that seemed to round out a proper defence force.
Scrapping the air wing was to save $NZ80m pa plus the cost of future capital needs, didn't seem a high cost to me, and the Skyhawks were supposed to suffice for another decade if we didn't take up the F-16 deal.
I still believe we need another frigate, the MRV will suffice for peacekeeping roles in the south pacific, but for areas with the higher levels of potential harm such as the middle east, a frigate is needed. The OPV will free up a frigate patrolling the southern ocean, good idea, but there are times when a frigate is out of service for up to 2 years durring refits where the one remaining is going to be insufficient to "deliver the outcomes the force is funded to carry out" Even with double crewing, using the crew from the ship in refit, and turning around the other as quickly as can be done.
Defence budget has fallen to about .9% of GDP, partly due to the defence budget being managed to cancel out the effects of inflation while real growth is around 5% pa, if the budget were fixed at 1% of GDP, in 5 years it would be about 27% higher in real terms, that I can live with. The NZ defence forces have a little less than $NZ4b in assets from which depreciation is allowed of about $NZ300m pa for capital needs, the government steps in to provide additional funding for higher cost purchases. There is also a capital charge currently of around $NZ600m, basically the government charges the DF for the use of the funds it ties up but pays the bill itself, which is a paper entry, but this can make the NZDB seem higher than reality. I mention this as defence funding here differs from all other countries iirc.With so much run down over the years, a great deal of the new funds will be needed just to bring assetts up to standard, eg provide modern housing and base infrastructure, a lot of the base housing stock is 1950's state house vintage with little done to them over the years, a lot of the base building stock also goes back to WW2.
Sorry for getting so far out off track people but thanks for the oportunity to express my thoughts on the matter.

 

[Supe]

New Zealand government had a surplus of $7.6 billion last year we could afford to have F-35s when they came out if we want to

I would expect government surpluses to reduce or pay off its debts. It's not sensible policy to go on a spending spree based on one or two surpluses. The economy and Government fiscal responsibility is just as important to a nation's security as an appropriately equipped and trained military is.

EnigmaNZ: I thought these interviews that might interest you. link 1 link 2. It appears that the Government realise that they will need to spend the dollars to retain NZDF's current capabilities vis a vis an increase in the budget...modest though it is.

MARK BURTON: It's about recognising that it's time to complete the job of reversing the decay of the 1990s.

 

[Aussie Digger]

They're fine if standard words from Mr Burton their, but NZ is doing anything but developing niche forces to deploy on ops. They are in fact developing fairly basic if lightly equipped motorised infantry based forces in the army along with a minimal air mobile component.

They are also developing (or retaining actually) severely limited airlift and surveillance capabilities and refusing or at least procrastinating on decisions to acquire capabilities that can actually defend NZ. Relying on Australia to provide capabilities such as airlift and Air Defence is foolhardy. A may come where such support is non-existent. Australia is hardly blameless in this area, indeed IT barely spends enough on defence...

At least though we recognise the fundamental issue that forces designed for war are capable of operating at lower levels of conflict. The reverse however is not true... Hopefully NZ doesn't learn this lesson the hard way...

 

[nz enthusiast]

Helen should get the boot this year and she will probably be replaced by national-new zealand first government. These two parties are kind of like defence nutters. New Zealand first has it in there policy to upgrade the frigates, purchase attack helis, purchase fire support vehicles, if possible purchase fighters and arrange for the replacing of the C130s and P-3ks. Nationals minister of defence said he liked NZ firsts defence policy and said 'don't be suprised if our policy is incredibly similar'.

 

[EnigmaNZ]

[font=verdana,arial,helvetica]nz enthusiast[/font] vbmenu_register("postmenu_42430", true); , there may be a surplus on paper of $7.6b but new spending is set at $9.5b as the government is having to borrow $1.9b over the next year, the surplus is cash left after last years spending, but out of that has to come inflation adjustments to departments budgets, new spending on heath, defence, the NZ fund, debt repayments, etc But the announcement of all that new defence spending over the next decade was a shock, a pleasant one though, though really it only takes the defence budget back to where it was a a couple of years ago, defence was closer to 1.5% of GDP in the 90's compared to 0.9% today ($140b GDP, $1.2b Df) The big ticket items for replacement are 10 to 15 years away, the C-130's in 15 years at about $US80m (2004) each and the Orions, ours are the hardest working I read recently, so 10 - 15 year max, new replacement is going to run into the billions.
Say just read this, interesting, kinda puts the role of peacekeeping into its true perpective, it is not just a ground operation.
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/css/docs/reports/NZIIAdun.html

 

[Aussie Digger]

That article is basically a longer version of what I wrote... What it does omit though, that the RNZN ANZAC frigates are rapidly becoming outclassed with respective to other Navies within the Asia-Pacific region. It's only offensive firepower is it's Mk45 5 inch gun.

Defensively it's a tad better with Seasparrow SAM's and Phalanx CIWS. At present they are not capable of providing NZ (or anyone else) with precision strike capabilities and are actually only capable of being operated with a fair degree of risk in "high intensity" circumstances. They were only ever designed as light patrol frigates afterall with some room for growth...

The P-3K Orion upgrade as presently authorised will only upgrade it's comms, navigation and surface surveillance capability. There is no money as yet for an ASW upgrade, no money for any weapons, and no money for an EWSP kit, meaning that it too cannot operate in a high intensity environment without significant risk...

NZ's currently policies mean that any future East Timor style operational deployments will probably have to be conducted once the situation is "benign", or else try and beg a "lift" from others who themselves lack or only possess small quantities of all the capabilities you might want...

Hopefully a new Government can correct these problems because NZ's forces have been VERY welcome in the past, they have been amongst the most capable forces I worked with, NZ Infantry in particular was renouned for it's toughness... It's a shame the "lefty" of this particular Government is hamstringing it's own forces...

 

[EnigmaNZ]

Here is a site that covers most of the capital expenditure planned by the NZDF over the next few years. The ANZACS I believe are due for upgrading around the time of their refit in about 2010 I read somewhere.

http://www.defence.govt.nz/Industry/acq-proj-updates.shtml

http://www.defence.govt.nz/public_docs/ltdp2004/9-proj-nec-avd-sig-risks-pol.shtml#ANZAC

I would like to think that the in the 2010 upgrade the Kiwi ANZACs will follow the Ozzies and backfit ASSM and the associated fire control systems, 2 harpoon quadpacks and searam on the raised area in front of the bridge with the phalyxn on the hangar. Then they will be half decent frigates, instead of big gunboats. If we are going to put them in harms way, we owe it to the crew to at least try and keep them in one piece.

 

[EnigmaNZ]

Hmm, last I heard, the original brief for the OPV and the MRV was for a 76 mm, the oto melara prosumably, seen nothing since though.