Chief of Air Force Air Vice-Marshal Darryn Webb talks to Ryan Bridge about the new planes and helicopters being purchased for the Defence Force. Video / Herald NOW
The Defence Force is gearing up for the “exciting” arrival of five new “subhunters”: helicopters fitted with a torpedo system able to detect a submarine underwater.
The expensive new helicopters are part of the Government’s $2.7 billion investment in New Zealand’s ability to defend itself, announced this week.
AirForce chief Darryn Webb told Herald NOW’s Ryan Bridge that the five MH-60R Seahawks would give the Defence Force the ability to “detect, track, target and, if necessary, prosecute surface and sub-surface targets”.
“They’re extremely capable machines.”
The helicopters have a max speed of 333km/h, a range of 963km (520 nautical miles), and hold three crew members.
The MH-60R Seahawk is fitted with a Mk 54 anti-submarine torpedo and machineguns.
The weapons system includes Mk 54 anti-submarine torpedoes, AGM-114 Hellfire air-surface missiles, machineguns and an Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS).
Webb said the aircraft had all the range, speed and endurance required to protect their forces and engage in combat when required.
“It might need to be out there with a dipping sonar, listening for submarines. It might need to be looking beyond the visual horizon, or indeed it might need to be moving people and cargo in an underslung load scenario. So extremely versatile machine, and we’re really excited about when they arrive.”
Webb told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking that the Seahawk was a state-of-the-art, combat-capable machine.
The MH-60R Seahawk holds three crew members.
Defence Minister Judith Collins announced the $2.7b investment in defence capabilities yesterday, including the purchase of the five helicopters.
The investment also covers two new Airbus A321XLRs acquired on a six-year lease-to-buy arrangement, with capital costs of $620 million and four-year operating costs of nearly $81m. These will replace the breakdown-prone 757 fleet.
“New Zealand needs reliable aircraft to deploy our personnel, deliver military equipment and humanitarian aid, support the evacuation of civilians, and transport government trade and diplomatic delegations quickly, over long distances, and often at short notice,” she said.
The acquisitions reflected the importance of having longer-range planes capable of undertaking operations such as “returning safely from Antarctica if it is unable to land due to conditions on the ice”.
The planes are more than 44 metres long, have a range of 8700km, and can accommodate 122 passengers.
Webb said they were a “commercial off-the-shelf solution” and buying the longest-range single-aisle aircraft available would add “real value”.
“For a country like New Zealand, which is a long way from anywhere, that’s a real value to us. For example, it can get us down to Antarctica with no point of safe return.
“And having flown there many times myself, the comfort that comes with that for the crew and for the passengers is going to be really important.”
