The government will invest in a range of initiatives including aircraft replacements and anti-armour missiles. 

New Zealand is allocating NZD4.2 billion (GBP1.86 billion) to defence in its newly unveiled 2025 government budget, Defence Minister Judith Collins revealed on 22 May.

NZD2.7 billion is being earmarked for capital investment, while NZD563 million is going towards operating funding, the minister detailed.

In addition, defence activities, personnel and infrastructure will receive NZD957 million.

Funding will go towards projects outlined in the government’s ‘Defence Capability Plan’ (DCP) published in April, Collins said.  

Specific spending plans outlined in a summary of initiatives from the country’s finance minister include replacing two Boeing 757 aircraft operated by the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

The replacement aircraft will have improved range and reliability to increase availability for “strategic air mobility missions”, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said.

The budget will also fund a project to replace the New Zealand Defence Force’s current fleet of eight maritime Seasprite helicopters.

“The new helicopters will provide a modern naval aviation capability to conduct combat operations, search and rescue operations and contribute to humanitarian aid and disaster relief”, Willis said.

As well as upgrading and replacing technology, New Zealand will use its budget to purchase new Command Launch Units for Javelin anti-armour missiles and fund 10 “small-scale” defence projects in the country.

These include projects that cover logistics systems, secure networking and data links, soldier protective equipment, space operations, aircraft maintenance, and special forces equipment.

New Zealand will also look to purchase counter drone systems.

The government will engage with industry in New Zealand where it makes sense to do so, Collins added, demonstrating the country’s support for businesses that can build defence tools and capabilities.

New Zealand’s ministry of defence had not responded to DSEI at the time of publication regarding why it’s increasing defence spending, or why certain equipment needs to be replaced.

The country's fresh zeal for defence spending comes following the announcement of the DCP on 7 April, which outlined the government’s intended defence investments over the next four years.  

"This new Defence Capability Plan contains NZD12 billion of funding over the next four years, which includes NZD9 billion of new spending", New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said.

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