Mark Burton: Navy's new ships will do all that's required of them

Public debate about New Zealand's new naval vessels seems to be largely based on confusion surrounding the meaning of two shipbuilding terms - military and commercial.

In many publications, the word "commercial has been wrongly substituted with "civilian", thus rendering the argument even more confused.

The assumption seems to be that not only do vessels built to military specifications differ significantly from their commercial counterparts, but that they are also better or stronger. This is not the case.

On the contrary, effective military vessels must be designed for both purpose and environment. The patrol vessels outlined in Project Protector - the project for acquiring our new maritime fleet - are being designed largely to patrol New Zealand's exclusive economic zone and the South Pacific.

These vessels must operate in one of the most extreme and demanding maritime environments in the world. Areas of our economic zone regularly reach sea state 6 (mean wave height 5m with a wind of 38 knots) and higher, and any patrol vessel must be robust enough to withstand such conditions.

Commercial-specification vessels are designed to safeguard both the crew and the vessel and perform effectively in just such an environment.

Contrary to much comment, the hulls of commercial vessels are typically stronger than military hulls, which tend to emphasise performance over hull strength.

In addition, vessels built to commercial specification typically offer lower acquisition and maintenance costs, and navies have long recognised they are ideal for such tasks as sealift, transport, patrol and naval support.

A sound navy is made up of more than just warships, and vessels built to commercial specifications are used around the world.

Commercial standards for vessels are developed and maintained by classification societies, such as Lloyd's Register, which sets down the rules and regulations governing ship design and building specifications.

The Royal Navy's offshore patrol vessels and landing ships are built to commercial standard, with military-specified systems where appropriate.

The United States is scheduled to build new auxiliary cargo and ammunition ships and operates the Incat-class vessels - all to commercial specifications.

France's Mistral-class amphibian assault ships are to be built largely to commercial standards, while the French Floreal-class frigates, which have visited New Zealand, are built to merchant-passenger marine standards.

And Australia, which is certainly our closest partner, is buying new patrol vessels that are expected to be commercially specified.

Indeed, three of New Zealand's major naval ships - the tanker Endeavour, the diving support vessel Manawanui and the ex-US naval vessel Resolution - are built and maintained to commercial specifications.

Interoperability between vessels has nothing to do with their military or commercial classification - international military commonality is achieved through compatible communications and similar operating procedures.

The most crucial issue is not, however, what other nations do. It is whether the new vessels will meet our own defence objectives and operational demands.

Our security - especially in today's global environment - must actively involve more agencies than just Defence.

The Maritime Forces Review, released in January last year, was conducted by the Defence Ministry and involved a number of other agencies to identify their requirements for surface patrol in the exclusive economic zone.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Ministry of Fisheries, Customs, Treasury, the Maritime Safety Authority, and the police, among others, were consulted.

During this process it became obvious that there was significant overlap between the requirements of these various agencies. This is partly because of common interests in the inshore zone but also because different agencies often target the same vessels. For example, a single yacht coming into the Bay of Islands could contain terrorists, illegal immigrants, drugs or a pest that would jeopardise our horticultural industry.

The Maritime Forces Review outlined the requirements for economic zone patrol vessels as sealift capability, coastal and offshore patrol and the ability to conduct at-sea naval training.

All the vessels bought under Project Protector will be appropriately designed, purpose-built and well-equipped with the appropriate mix of commercial and military specifications necessary for the ships to best carry out all the tasks required.

Far from being a cost-cutting exercise, Project Protector shows this $500 million defence investment, when taken with the multimillion-dollar navigation, systems and communications upgrade for the P3 Orion aircraft fleet, enhances not only military security but also the security of our borders, our fisheries resource, our biosecurity and a host of other areas.

* Mark Burton is the Minister of Defence.