Forces to 'talk, think and breathe' as one

A new plan for the Defence Force will see the three services starting to work together to increase frontline personnel and meet future requirements. Photo / Supplied

Defence chief Lieutenant General Rhys Jones says the reshaping of the Defence Force under a new plan will force the three separate services to "talk, think and breathe" joint operations.

Under the capability plan, released yesterday, all deployable parts of the Defence Force will be ready by 2015 to join the new Joint Amphibious Task Force when and if required.

The aim of the task force will be to enable the Army to deploy more people for longer in combat situations and to be better prepared for peacekeeping and disaster relief roles.

General Jones said the plan would allow the defence forces to emerge stronger and better able to meet future requirements.

"We are moving away from an environment where each service currently focuses on its own environment which has drawn us in the past to have single ships, single aircraft and small unit operations," he said.

"Our future is one of being able to combine all those capabilities so that our officers and men talk, think and breathe joint operations in the future."

The plan would also train an infantry unit to enable it to take part in special operations.

The capability plan will include a new battle-training building for the Special Air Service (SAS) at Papakura by 2014; new advanced pilot training capability; and an upgrade in real-time IT and communications technology.

General Jones said the exact amount to be spent on the SAS battle-training upgrade was still to be determined but hinted it could be a private-public partnership.

"Part of the process is to go out and engage with industry as to how it could be built and whether it is full ownership, partial ownership. Those details are still being looked at."

Defence Minister Wayne Mapp said the task force was central to the plan. It would be capable of working independently and would also be capable of working with friends and allies.

He said about $3 billion would be spent over the next 10 years but it would come from budgeted future accumulated depreciation payments, there will be no new capital spending.

The Defence Force has been plagued by rivalry and tensions among the services - though they have worked together better in recent years.

The Army, according to the plan, will be "reshaped around a combined arms task group to increase the combat utility, sustainability and potential scale of deployments".

That would include an increase in frontline personnel.

"This reconfiguration will provide sufficient depth to sustain a maximum land force for deployment of 800 personnel for up to three years in a mid-intensity environment."

It says one infantry company will be trained with a wider range of higher-end skills, allowing it to operate as a regular infantry company and also to undertake some more demanding tasks and, if needed support Special Operations Forces operations.

Dr Mapp said the Defence White Paper released last year was stated the Government's goals; the Capability Plan set out how they were to be implemented over the next 10 years.

Dr Mapp also announced that the Air Force was in the market for a more advanced pilot training capability.

"The upgraded P3 Orion and C-130 Hercules aircraft and the NH90 helicopters are frontline military aircraft that are routinely flown flown well beyond normal civil parameters."

Combined Arms

* Joint Amphibious Task Force to create a force of 800 personnel.
* New advanced pilot training.
* Communications upgrades.
* New SAS training base by 2014.
* No increased spending on Defence Force for 10 years.