Government turns to tech firms to boost NZDF

A rapidly deteriorating global security environment has spurred the government to reach out to high-tech companies to boost the Defence Force (NZDF).

Defence Minister Judith Collins has recently met with local tech firms and multinational defence contractors behind closed doors, and told them that the NZDF wants to team up with them to “find new ways to tackle the significant challenges of our time”.

NZDF tech experts have also been holding dozens of meetings this year about advanced military technology with the US, UK and Australia, and working on an unspecified multilateral agreement with them.

Military forces world-wide are making a big push to acquire “emerging” technologies, such as Israel’s Iron Beam laser, China’s satellite with an arm to wrestle other satellites, and the Oreshnik hypersonic missile Russia fired into Ukraine at Mach 10, too fast to shoot down.

Collins told a space technology event held by the Defence Industry Association in July that the government was impelled to act.

“I will set out why starting this conversation now is so important… the global security environment is deteriorating at a rate not seen in decades,” she said in the speech released under the OIA.

War in Ukraine and the Middle East, and Russia’s deepening military ties with North Korea, were compounded by “strategic competition, and the risk of miscalculation in the Indo-Pacific”.

Collins told scores of local tech firms – as well as multinational defence contractors Thales, Boeing and Lockheed Martin – that the NZ Defence Force had to get “the technology and tools they need” to respond.

“‘Defence Forces around the world are seeking to grow their engagement with the high-technology sector, looking for asymmetric and disruptive technologies capable of collecting, processing and deciding on information with speed and accuracy,” she said.

An earlier briefing to the Prime Minister – prepared ahead of a meeting with Australia’s PM – said the growing strategic competition was “driven primarily by an increasingly powerful and assertive China”, and climate change.

RNZ has approached the Chinese embassy for comment.

Aukus Pillar Two is the controversial front-face of the joint US-UK-Australia push to develop and share more advanced military technology.

But there have also been less public moves with similar goals, that have been carrying on and gaining traction this year.

New Zealand is considering joining Pillar Two, but China warned it off again this week, when its ambassador spoke with RNZ’s Guyon Espiner.

A newly released briefing for a US-NZ meeting in October showed New Zealand was still “exploring” joining.

“This has included engaging with the Aukus members to build our understanding of the areas of technology, and considering where New Zealand could both benefit and make a material contribution,” the briefing said.

“Advice cannot be presented to Cabinet before we have a clear picture of the specific technology areas.”

It blanked out the “number of areas” of defence technology, where the partners already collaborated outside Pillar Two.

DST – the NZDF’s science and tech arm – has held more than 30 in-person meetings this year with the US, UK and Australia about advanced technology systems, and is working on an agreement with them. It has not told RNZ what the agreement is about.

The October briefing said DST was “key to our efforts to explore” Pillar Two, and that Pillar Two was the focus of most current interactions between DST and the Defence Ministry.

The ministry held its first-ever meeting with “emerging” tech and venture capital firms in May. Collins mentioned that this meeting was hosted by the Defence Secretary Andrew Bridgman. The ministry told RNZ the meeting was business as usual.

Collins also told another May meeting of defence industry leaders that getting “asymmetric and disruptive” technology into service faster was the key. Asymmetric is where a country has a significant advantage over another in terms of resources, technology, talent, processes or logistics.

Australia’s new defence strategy majors on “asymmetric” capabilities. New Zealand was at the Washington summit in July where Nato agreed on a big push for asymmetric and emerging technology to gather pace in 2025.

When Australia and Japan announced joint research into robotic and autonomous systems for undersea warfare in January, a defence thinktank said: “This is a tech race where the Aukus countries can have an asymmetric advantage over China.”

Collins’ July speech did not mention how the government might afford the technology. The NZDF has been hit hard by attrition of servicepeople, the laying off of civilian staff, and a severely constrained budget.

The Minister instead talked up her ability to get things done.

“One of the advantages of having a Minister of Defence who is also the Attorney General and Minister for Space, the intelligence agencies, and science, innovation and technology, is that decisions which cut across these increasingly connected areas are more easily seen and decisions can be made quickly.”

One task she has is considering the Defence Capability Plan out to 2040. It is still with her, although it had been expected to go to Cabinet well before now.

The plan will have one focus on the NZDF being able to continue to operate alongside allies “interoperability”. Briefings about Aukus Pillar Two – including the one in October – repeatedly stressed this as a priority. Interoperability must now be a factor, in that the three main allies have already lowered military trade barriers to share more technology.

“With the tech focus of this event, I think it is important that I touch on Aukus Pillar 2,” Collins said in July.

“Whilst details are still taking shape, Aukus Pillar 2 is about like-minded countries joining Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, in reducing barriers and pooling the talent in our high-technology sectors to deliver advanced and disruptive capabilities.

“Consideration of how we could participate, what our contribution would be, and the timeframe for doing so are underway.”

Chinese Ambassador Wang Xiaolong said on Wednesday the trust between the two countries was fragile and China advised against any move that threatened to erode it.

The July meeting Collins addressed in Auckland was also attended by the New Zealand United States Council, satellite tech firms such as Australia’s Qasar, and the Chief of Joint Defence Services Rob Krushka.

Amazon Web Services gave a presentation about Project Kuiper, which supports the Pentagon’s global satellite network for the US and its allies.

Collins told the attendees that New Zealand’s high-technology sector could play a leadership role.

“We are already doing this in the space sector.”

As well as the Defence Capability Plan, a strategy is currently being worked on “to better align Defence’s capability development and acquisition systems with the speed in which the high-technology sector operates”.

Associate Minister of Defence Chris Penk is leading this work, and told RNZ the strategy would be completed next year.

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