Cabinet to shoot down Air Force plans

By JOHN ARMSTRONG political editor

EXCLUSIVE:

The Air Force is about to get its wings clipped again.

Today's cabinet meeting is expected to reject its plans to spend more than $400 million on upgrading its Orion surveillance aircraft.

Instead, the Army will be the big winner in a series of papers on new defence equipment spending, to be discussed by ministers.

It will get expensive new light armoured vehicles and long-overdue replacements for its ageing field radios.

Detailed announcements will not be made until later in the week.

Ministers will also study recommendations arising from a major real estate review of Defence Force bases.

The rationalisation will include closing Hobsonville base in West Auckland, home to the squadron of Iroquois helicopters.

Neighbouring Whenuapai - used by Orions and Hercules transport aircraft - is expected to be retained for the time being.

The decision not to refit the six Orions with modern maritime surveillance gear and revamped anti-submarine detection equipment comes only months after the Government ditched plans to buy secondhand American F-16 jet fighters for the Air Force.

But Prime Minister Helen Clark and cabinet colleagues have shown no enthusiasm for the Orions' $445 million Project Sirius.

They say hostile submarines are unlikely to be a threat in the South Pacific.

And they see no justification for committing so much money to a single item, especially as the next two Budgets will set tight limits on extra spending.

The Government's priority is on re-equipping the Army, in line with June's defence policy framework which called for "depth rather than breadth" in the armed forces and identified well-equipped, combat-trained land forces as the core requirement.

Ministers are concerned that the Orions make relatively few maritime surveillance flights to guard New Zealand's exclusive economic zone, concentrating instead on anti-submarine exercises.

The Air Force will probably be told to review the adequacy of its civilian-linked roles, including fisheries protection, Customs surveillance and search and rescue.

It will have argued that the new anti-submarine capability adds relatively little extra overall cost to the project, and that antiquated radar will have to be replaced within a short period anyway.

It is also understood that the United States has been waiting for the cabinet to approve Project Sirius as an indication that the Labour-Alliance Coalition is serious about contributing to regional security.

In contrast, Washington was far less worried by the cancellation of the F-16 contract.

It is understood that the Army has bid for more than 100 light armoured vehicles at a cost of around $5 million each to replace the old M113 armoured personnel carriers, which were used most recently in East Timor and Bosnia.

At that price, however, the initial number bought is more likely to be around 30.