The five new helicopters the Government plans to procure will come with anti-submarine torpedoes, Hellfire missiles, machine guns and an Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System.
The MH-60R Seahawks are a $2 billion-plus investment and are intended to help ensure New Zealand has a “critical combat capable” fleet, according to Defence Minister Judith Collins. She described their weapon systems as “essential”.
“These investments matter not just to our military, but to every New Zealander. They matter because we are a small island nation whose economic well-being relies on the freedom to travel and to trade,” Collins said.
“In a world where tensions are rising, distance no longer provides New Zealand the protection it once did, and defence is not something that can be mothballed until you need it.”
Asked why New Zealand needed aircraft with precision kill systems and who we intended to kill, Collins said Defence personnel shouldn’t be sent out with helicopters “where they have no options” and “sometimes you might have to have that [capability], you just don’t know”.
New Zealand currently has Seasprite helicopters, which themselves have anti-ship missiles, torpedoes and machine guns.
Collins took a model of the Seahawk helicopter into the House, telling reporters on the way in about a sonar buoy dangling off it “that goes down into the ocean and detects things”.
That could include submarines or “drug shipments that multinational crime [organisations are] dropping off at various reefs as they do time to time”.
She showed off the model as she explained the helicopters’ capabilities.
“The five new Seahawks will replace the ageing Seasprite fleet, and when I say ageing, I mean four of these were around in the 1960s. I’m reliably assured that one of the airframes was actually used in the Korean War.
“The new air maritime helicopters are versatile at combat and deterrent capability to our naval fleet. It’s the helicopter used by Australia, the United States, and seven other countries.
“These five Seahawks will increase the offensive and defensive capability and surveillance range of New Zealand’s frigates, and ensure we’re interoperable with our ally Australia, and our partner defence forces.”
Over recent years, Kiwis have been warned by various government agencies and ministers that the country is no longer in a benign strategic environment and is facing greater regional security challenges.
A Ministry of Defence report last year said the “use, and threat of use, of military power is increasingly shaping states’ interactions” and explicitly stated that China’s “assertive pursuit of its strategic objectives is the new major driver for the new era of strategic competition among states”.
Though China wasn’t mentioned on Thursday, the deteriorating security environment was mentioned by both Collins and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters.
“It’s really clear that we live in a very difficult time at the moment, and things that we would never have dreamed of 10 or 15 years ago are happening right now,” Collins said.
“We need to be very aware of the fact that anyone who thinks that we live in a benign strategic environment and wants to relive their glory days is obviously wrong.”
Peters said, “global tensions are increasing rapidly” and “we must invest in our national security to ensure our economic prosperity”.
He said the Government’s Defence Capability Plan, of which today’s investment announcement is part, allowed New Zealand “to adapt to an ever-changing security environment”.
But just last week, after Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s deputy Foreign Affairs Minister said New Zealand didn’t “really need an Army because your most deadly enemy is a possum or a cat”.
Who are New Zealand’s enemies? Collins wouldn’t specify on Thursday, other than to say, anyone who wanted to hurt our interests. She indicated that could include other nations.
Peters, on the topic of the new precision kill systems and New Zealand enemies, said, “This is not a pacifist convention, we’re talking about defence, hoping never to use it.”
He said part of the purpose of the Defence Force was deterrence.
“The reason why you have defence is so you can secure [the country]. The number one obligation of any member of Parliament or Government is the safety and security of their people. If you can’t meet that number one obligation, how many others are you going to fail on?”
Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour said there are “bad people in the world” who are “seeking to do harm to us”.
“Even as we speak, there are people online who are trying to disrupt New Zealand politics. They go into our communities and try and incite people. This kind of thing, unfortunately, is a reality.”
Asked about the need for a precision kill system, Seymour suggested deterrence was critical.
“We are part of an alliance of countries who share our values, who value democracy and universal human rights, and we need the ability to deter people who might try and attack us,” Seymour said.
“Can New Zealand defend itself alone? No, it can’t. Can we defend ourselves in an Anzac alliance? Maybe. Can we defend ourselves as a wider democratic alliance? Definitely. But we have to play our part.
“One of the deterrents to people who would attack us is that if they attack us, we might kill them. That’s how wars work, unfortunately. I’d rather not have one, but that’s how they work.”
Labour’s deputy leader, Carmel Sepuloni, said her party thought the defence investment was necessary but acknowledged there would be New Zealanders “out there who think the optics of this are terrible” given cost-of-living pressures and teachers’ strikes this week.
The Greens’ foreign affairs spokesman, Teanau Tuiono, said the Government was sending the “wrong message”.
“Particularly at this point in time, in the middle of the cost of living crisis and teachers are striking, nurses are striking, and people are really concerned about that,” he said.
“Here’s the thing, they always seem to be able to find money for military spending and not enough for food on the table.”
Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. In 2025, he was a finalist for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.