‘Critical’ $2b Defence Force maritime helicopter replacements announced
Sunday, 4 May 2025
New billion dollar helicopters are on the way to replace the Defence Force’s ageing maritime fleet, in an effort to improve New Zealand’s offensive capability and surveillance range, the Government announced.
Defence Minister Judith Collins made the pre-Budget announcement from the Air Force’s Whenuapai airbase on Sunday, alongside Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters.
Collins said the replacement maritime helicopters, which $2 billion has been put aside for, would increase the defensive and offensive capability and surveillance range of the Navy frigates.
“Global tensions are increasing rapidly, and Defence personnel need the right equipment and conditions to do their jobs,” Collins said.
“The new helicopters will be able to go further and carry larger loads, including weapons, personnel and equipment – all of which is critical for Defence to protect New Zealand and New Zealanders.”
The money has been confirmed for the helicopters, but a business case still needs to go through Cabinet.
“Together with a $957 million investment in Defence Force activities, personnel and estate, the $2b plus budgeted to replace the helicopters represents the first tranche of the Government’s $12b of planned commitments to upgrade the Defence Force over the next four years,” Collins said, adding she would have more to say at the Budget.
That almost $1b over four years of personnel and estate spend included $150m a year for more flying, sailing and patrolling, $39m a year for allowances, $20m a year for deployments, $26m for estate maintenance and $8m a year for civilian staff pay increases.
In April, the Government finally released its Defence Force capability plan, intending to spend $9b, doubling New Zealand’s defence spending to 2% of GDP in the coming decade, by purchasing missiles, drones, and rebuilding the defence estate.
Major investments included replacing maritime helicopters - the indicative cost for this was budgeted at $2b “plus”.
Peters described the last four decades of defence spending, with the exception of when NZ First's Ron Mark was Defence Minister, as 'simply woeful'.
'We have not been pulling our weight, so today's announcement is a start, but it is only a start.'
Luxon said he thought there could be three options in the tendering process of the choppers, once the business process was signed off by Cabinet.
'But Defence procurement will work their way through what is the best aircraft for the challenge and the tasks we want to set it.'
Labour defence spokesperson Peeni Henare supported investing in naval choppers, but said “given the high cost, we do want to ensure we’re getting our money’s worth”.
“We’ll want to know if servicing costs are reasonable, if parts are accessible from our side of the world, and how many ships they could actually take off from.
'Another big question is what has been traded away in order to prioritise this defence force spending, and we won’t have the answer to that until Budget day.
'So, while we welcome this news, we're after transparency on if we’re getting a good deal.'
Finance Minister Nicola Willis was asked by The Post what would happen if the business case came back indicating the cost to be over $2b, as suggested in the capability plan.
“We're going to work very hard to get the best deal for the New Zealand taxpayer, and so we will go out to tender to make sure that the helicopters we're getting have the right specifications, but also represent value for money.
“Now there are a number of entities internationally who could potentially bid on that tender, and of course, they'll be competing to offer a good price so that they can win that contract.”
Willis said they wanted to replace the current fleet “with helicopters that have all of the functionalities that we can assume we will need in the coming years”.
“It is a significant investment. However, investing in New Zealand security is essential to our future prosperity, and our government has worked very carefully to ensure we can prioritise the money that the Defence Force needs to do its job.”
The current secondhand Super Seasprite maritime helicopters have to be replaced by 2028. Spare parts are expensive and difficult to come by, and two of the fleet are already being cannibalised.
The helicopters can operate from Navy frigates, extending the frigates’ surveillance range, weapon capability, and helping with humanitarian assistance and disaster relief tasks. They can also potentially provide offensive combat capability on other naval vessels.
Earlier this week, the Government announced a pre-Budget $53 million package to pay teacher registration fees and certification for the next three years.
National had been promising to step in over the fees since 2020, when the Teaching Council faced public backlash for doubling its fees. In March this year, the Teaching Council began consulting on increasing the certificate renewal fees to $501 from $464, which covers a period of three years.
The Budget is on May 22.