Exclusive: Kiwi Air Force missions repeatedly intercepted by foreign military jets

Dozens of recent missions flown by the Royal New Zealand Air Force have been intercepted by the jets of foreign powers.

Inquiries have revealed 92 missions flown by Air Force fixed-wing aircraft since 2015 have been intercepted by the aircraft of a foreign nation in the Middle East and East Asia regions.

Details of the incidents, including the identity of the foreign powers and the exact locations of the interceptions, were withheld on national security grounds under the Official Information Act.

The numbers were only released after the Herald complained to the Ombudsman about the Defence Force’s initial refusal of requests.

Former Defence Minister Ron Mark, who was in office for three years of the period in question, confirmed he was briefed on the various interceptions of Kiwi aircraft.

But he said he could give no further details as it could potentially harm New Zealand’s economy and national security.

Information provided this month by Defence chief of staff Air Commodore AJ Woods said the 92 intercepts of the P-3K2 Orion maritime patrol planes happened across 234 missions since 2015.

They happened in the East Asia and Middle East regions, Woods said.

All further details, including the foreign powers involved and the circumstances of the intercepts, were withheld under Section 6(a) of the Official Information Act, allowing information to be withheld if it could prejudice the security, defence or international relations of New Zealand.

The Herald first filed the request with the Defence Force after a Royal Australian Air Force P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft was intercepted in international airspace by a Chinese J-16 fighter jet on May 26, leading to a further souring of Sino-Australian relations.

Air force and naval aviation corps of the Eastern Theatre Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army fly planes at an unspecified location in China. Photo / China's Xinhua News Agency

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said the P-8 was carrying out routine surveillance when it was intercepted by the J-16 fighter aircraft, which he said flew “very close to the side” of the Australian aircraft.

“In flying close to the side, it released flares. The J-16 then accelerated and cut across the nose of the P-8, settling in front of the P-8 at very close distance,” Marles told media.

Marles described the incident as “very dangerous”, and said Australia had voiced its concerns with Beijing.

The Chinese government hit back via an editorial in the party-controlled Global Times, saying key details were left out by the Australian minister, including where it exactly it occurred.

A request in June to the NZ Defence Force asking for details of all intercepts in recent years was withheld in full the following month, citing national security.

A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft. The P-3s are soon to be retired and replaced with four new Boeing P-8 Poseidon jets. Photo / NZDF Corporal Dillon Anderson

The Herald complained to the Ombudsman and asked for at least some broad details to be released, even if it meant withholding the exact locations.

The watchdog launched an investigation, but eventually upheld Defence’s decision to withhold the information in full.

Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier said he accepted the argument that its release would be likely to prejudice the security and defence of New Zealand.

“Even if there is a high public interest in the information, I cannot recommend that NZDF release it,” Boshier wrote in a letter in November.

“Unfortunately, I cannot provide more of an explanation of my opinion, without that explanation potentially causing the prejudice at issue.”

Boshier said the Defence Force had signalled it intended to revisit its decision on the request.

The following month, Air Commodore Woods provided the data. No explanation was given as to why it was not now prejudicial to national security.

Mark was Defence Minister from 2017 to 2020, much of the period covered by the interception data.

“In my time as Minister of Defence, I received many such briefings on those very matters,” he said.

Mark would not go into specifics on the incidents, citing a “lifelong duty of confidence” after taking the oath as minister.

“I am still subject to all their relevant Acts regarding highly confidential and sensitive information that might harm our diplomatic relations with other countries, and that might harm our economy,” he said.

“I won’t be commenting on how it affects New Zealand’s P-3 deployments, because that would potentially harm New Zealand’s diplomatic relations, and potentially could harm New Zealand’s economy. And I don’t want to be the person responsible for that.”

Former National MP Wayne Mapp was Defence Minister from 2008 to 2011, and said he did not receive any briefings on interceptions during his tenure.

“A lot of those interceptions will be benign, I suspect,” he said.

“It’s only unusual if you’re in the situation of the Australians, where you’re in international airspace, and the intercepting aircraft starts to act in an aggressive sort of fashion, as opposed to just flying nearby and communicating and so forth.”

Mapp said he believed the majority of the interceptions would be undertaken by friendly countries.

In a military context, interceptions occur when an aircraft, usually a fast jet fighter, approaches and flies alongside the plane of another power.

They are a regular occurrence between Russian aircraft and those from NATO countries.

Last year, US Air Force Lieutenant General David Krumm said in 2020 they intercepted over 60 Russian aircraft, commonly the Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers, off the US West Coast.

Some probing missions are flown by various powers near the maritime borders of a country with the aim of seeing whether an intercept will occur.