The Russians are coming, but the Australian Government isn't about to panic. Four Russian warships are exercising in the Coral Sea before this weekend's G20.

John Key was playing to a vital international audience when he said that New Zealand has an opportunity to make sure the United Nations Security Council lifts its game.

The Prime Minister says New Zealand could expand its counter-piracy mission around Somalia or undertake missions delaying or disrupting enemy forces in the Gulf to free up other countries to focus more on Isis.

Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee says any deployment of soldiers to train the Iraqi Army will not be the same as Afghanistan.

If there's one thing that irks Rebecca Kitteridge, it is being referred to as the new head of the SIS spy agency.

As many as six senior members of the North Korean regime have apparently been purged in the latest bout of blood-letting in Pyongyang.

PM John Key appears to have been misinformed by the Defence Force about the nature of a Washington meeting of the United States-led coalition to defeat Islamic State.

When faced with an "angry" man wielding a shotgun outside a hospital emergency department, West Auckland Constables Nick Frederick and Mike Nolan didn't hesitate to put their own lives on....

Displaying your defeated enemy's heads on poles is a time-honoured New Zealand military practice.

The SIS, the country's domestic spying agency, looks set to gain greater powers in a quickfire overhaul of terrorism laws despite the PM's assertion there's a "low risk" to NZ.

The Prime Minister wants New Zealand to do what it can to help Western powers deal with the so-called Islamic State that has taken over a swathe of Iraq and Syria.

The argument that if we don't join the American crusade to wipe out Muslim fanatics in Iraq and Syria, they'll swoop down to Godzone and behead us all is a rerun of the old Vietnam War domino theory....

New Zealand faces more security risks and has more of its people looking to fight overseas for militant groups than most people realise, Prime Minister John Key said yesterday as he signalled law....

Constable Murray Stretch was relaxing at home on the couch watching rugby league in front of the fire when he got the call that led to his death.

A former air force sergeant and several former volunteer firefighters are among 78 new police constables about to hit the beat.

Kiwi soldiers were confronted with a "chaotic scene" when they rushed to rescue survivors of a plane crash in Papua New Guinea, the Defence Force says.

The Four Nations Maritime Rugby Cup kicked off when the Royal New Zealand Navy took on the United States Marine Corps at the Devonport Naval Base yesterday.

A former high-ranking Auckland police officer investigated for allegedly harassing a prostitute before quitting the force has started his own private investigation company.

A re-elected National Government would keep all current military bases open and operational, Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman says.

The HMNZS Canterbury returns to Auckland after 3 months overseas service in the Pacific.

First he was decorated for valour after carrying a critically wounded comrade to safety through enemy fire in Afghanistan.

Foreign submarines are reported to be secretly entering New Zealand waters, a defence analyst says.