ANNIVeRSARY AIR SHow! - Royal New Zealand Air Force

The chief of defence Force has launched ‘Future 35’, our
strategy to shape the NZdF as a strong and capable
defence Force out to 2035. His goal is for our defence
Force to deliver capabilities and services that are relevant,
combat-orientated, and valued by the Government and all New
Zealanders.
The next 25 years are likely to be challenging: an increasingly
uncertain environment; new military technology; adoption
of new doctrine and tactics—often asymmetric; new warfare
environments influenced by contemporary trends such as
cyber-warfare; use of non-state actors; and greater potential
for direct and deniable attacks on New Zealand’s interests.
The NZdF must develop new military capabilities to meet
future security challenges. The defence Force may not receive
additional Government funding for the next ten years, and we
may need to fund future military capability from within our
current budget, the cdF says.
“The added challenge is that we may be called on to
provide more support to protect New Zealand’s economic
and territorial interests. while our primary focus is the South
Pacific, we must also be capable of working in partnership with
others in the South east Asian region and beyond.”
NZDF’s New strategy
The cdF explained that our strategy to meet these
challenges is for the NZdF of the future to be more ‘joined up’,
both in terms of structure as well as culture.
“The Joint Amphibious Task Force (JATF) we are creating is
the first and most tangible example. The JATF will drive change
and will see the three Services come together in a more joint
and ‘joined up’ way—a shift in the way we work and think to a
strategy
SHAPING THe
NZdF FoR THe
NeXT 20 YeARS
future where we will largely operate together.” [See AFN 133
February 2012.]
The JATF will primarily be structured for the deployment
of combat forces. However it will most frequently be used to
deploy disaster relief forces, conduct exercises in the region,
and assist our neighbours to develop their own capacity.
“The JATF requires us to deploy, operate, and sustain
combat forces away from New Zealand, positioning the NZdF
as an expeditionary force. It is important to note that building
defence capability takes time. Initially the composition of the
JATF will be formed from existing force element capability.
over time we will acquire and develop new complementary
capabilities required to fight within a joint, interagency, and
multi-national environment.”
the PlaN to 2015
The plan for the NZdF will initially focus on two key areas:
Capability renewal. by 2015 the Joint Amphibious Task Force
will see our current force strengths—our frontline operational
and support units from across the three Services—
reorganised into an integrated and coherent force working
together as one.
organisational reform. our second focus is organisational
reform, to strengthen our organisational management and
work in a more ‘joined-up’ way. The performance of the middle
and back of the defence Force needs to better support our
core military business, and match the agility and effectiveness
of our deployed force elements.
More information on Future 35 will be promulgated through
command channels. See also ‘Future 35’ dated March 2012
distributed via email and intranet.
Air Force news 5