Prince Harry has flown a Spitfire as he caught up with an injured serviceman and veterans hoping to pilot the aircraft in a Battle of Britain flypast.

Nine years ago, the decision to buy eight NH90 helicopters for the air force was accompanied by considerable fanfare.

Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee says the difficulties in using the Royal New Zealand Air Force's helicopters in cyclone-hit Vanuatu shows the Government needs to be very careful in making its next military purchases.

The illegal fishing vessel at the centre of a New Zealand Navy operation earlier this year has been detained in Thailand.

Canada's mysterious and small operation has become a lot bigger and more costly since it began, writes Dita De Boni. Which could be our fate, too.

Russia's entire Northern Fleet is on the move today as part of a show of force involving 40,000 troops, more than 41 warships, 15 submarines and 110 aircraft.

In 1942, when young radio operator Johnny Jones was sent to Auckland Islands as a radio operator, he recalls a country on edge.

On March 26, the last of the southern coastwatchers, John Stuart Jones, was to have voyaged to the Auckland Islands with an expedition to restore his old home in Ranui Cove.

If the PM handed me a gun and asked me to ship out to the Middle East to do my duty for this great land, I know exactly what I would do, writes Matt Heath.

The enemy is no longer on a singular battlefield, the enemy is in every major town and city on the planet, writes Mike Hosking. So in sending the troops in, the purpose is what?

The quality of New Zealand's training contribution to the Iraqi armed forces would be a welcome addition to the fight against Isis (Islamic State), Iraq's ambassador to New Zealand, Mouayed Saleh, said last night.

No sooner was the announcement made that New Zealand was heading to Iraq, the war of words broke out.

An officer who served alongside a soldier who collapsed while running has described his comrade's death as "the cruellest timing imaginable" - coming just weeks before his wedding.

The film clip of Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee striding into the bowels of the $250 million Boeing C-17 Globemaster for a test drive this week was scary.

A Royal Marine with 173 confirmed kills of Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan is the deadliest sniper in the world, it has been claimed.

One hundred years after a Tauranga mill-hand was cut down by machine-gun fire high on Gallipoli Peninsula, his war medals have been reunited with his descendants.

Exclusive: NZ has been asked by Britain to contribute 100 defence personnel to a joint training mission in Iraq with Australia.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond says New Zealand is regarded as family and he hopes it will become actively involved in the fight against the Islamic State.

New Zealanders living in Australia have chalked up a small but important victory for expats after being accepted for trials with the Australian Defence Force.

An 18-year-old put himself and his family at risk as armed police swooped on his Auckland home, after he allegedly waved a replica gun around while driving.

The MP who chaired the anti-terrorist legislation rushed through Parliament last week, MarkMitchell, says the bill was "100 per cent" justified.

Aucklanders can be confident the measures Sydney has in place to deal with hostage or terrorism emergencies would be available here - but on a smaller scale, a senior police source says.

Kiwi troops sent to Iraq need a clear objective and a way out within two years, says a military academic and former army officer who has served in the country.

We all know John Key is susceptible to brain fade when it comes to historic events, writes Brian Rudman. But to forget what happened at Gallipoli 99 years ago does suggest he should really start upping his ginseng and cod-liver oil intake.

The beating of the patriotic drum resonates in the proposal to send an Anzac force of trainers and troops to Iraq.

SIS director Rebecca Kitteridge helped John Key cover his butt in the leadup to the 2014 election, just like her predecessor did in 2011, writes Dita De Boni.

NZ’s spy watchdog Cheryl Gwyn is to investigate Labour MP Phil Goff’s acknowledgement he disclosed findings from her SIS report before its release.

The Opposition says the PM John Key is "in denial" over a report which backs allegations his staff used information from the SIS for a smear campaign.

For all of his professional life, Robert O'Neill lived in the shadows.