Just wondering should the RAN retire an ANZAC or two, would NZ be interested!
It probably would be dependent on the outcome of the NZ Govt's defence policy review in terms of whether increasing the future fleet in the 2030's when the ANZAC's are due to be replaced is deemed a priority. Presumably the RNZN is advocating for this to better sustain operations, to allow for when vessels are undertaking maintenance periods and to also provide some concurrency in times of urgent need. That is, lessons have been learnt the hard way (as in hopefully by the politcal class) that two combatants is clearly insufficient and the changing, challenging strategic environment will only exacerbate this if not addressed. (So suggesting at least 3 ideally 4, if not more, future combatants).
But that is looking ahead so to dial it back in relation to your question this presents an interesting opportunity to address this issue much sooner and provide a pathway for a greater mass of trained sailors and specialists in time for when the fleet is renewed. It would mean though the NZ Govt would need to committ to this much sooner than may have been anticipated, funding and overall NZDF capability/priority wise. (Although frankly I'm suprised the Aus Govt is prepared to ditch two combatants now-ish when replacements are years away. Could there be pushback)?
Realistically though any potential NZ acquisition of
HMAS ANZAC (planned withdrawal date 2024) and potentially
HMAS Arunta (planned withdrawal date 2026) will come at a cost and have some challenges. As VADM Mark Hammond, RAN CN, at last week's Senate hearngs stated,
ANZAC is not only the oldest (combatant) vessel in the fleet she is also the hardest working of the ANZAC class ("steaming" 750,000 miles in her service). She is currently in extended readiness and her scheduled maintenance period last year was put on hold whilst a material condition assessment was conducted. Apparently material fragility has emerged also affecting her drive chain, which hasn't been experienced before.
So it sounds like NZ would need to spend quite a bit of money in the short term to remedy these issues even if the vessels were on-sold cheaply etc. OTOH of the two RNZN ANZAC's one has had and the second is having their main engines replaced and work done on rectifying corrosion (a process which takes several months) so perhaps something similar could be applied to
HMAS ANZAC (although suspect it might be a more complex task with greater risk)?
Then if say
Arunta is taken up (as surely it would make sense to have two vessels with the same capabilities rather than one odd-ball type + 2x RNZN) presumably moslty the same engineering work would need to be undertaken.
As stated it all comes at a cost, but also buys time to train up crews (and potentially have some experienced personnel rejoin) knowing they will then get more time at sea on deployments compared to the current situation (due to ship unavailability due to upgrades and planned maintenance). It also means NZ Govt could in time commit to more regional deployments in support of its allies. It also means the RNZN could work more closely with the RAN as that is what our politicians are advocating. But time will tell about how committed they really are and the ball is squarely in their court ...
www.navaltoday.com
