A Linton soldier who admitted using cannabis oil has narrowly escaped being dismissed from service.

Australia and New Zealand Defence Force troops are set to watch the Rugby World Cup final together in Iraq.

Warda Jawad came to NZ as a child when her family fled war in the Middle East.

New Zealand's top military science secrets are attracting million-dollar investments from allied defence forces.

Space activities will be on the agenda at a joint conference between New Zealand, the US, the UK, Canada and Australia being hosted in Wellington over the next two days.

The New Zealand Defence Force spent $600,000 defending itself against the defamation case brought against it by investigative journalist Jon Stephenson.

The Defence Force has settled a long-running defamation claim against it by war reporter Jon Stephenson.

New Zealand Defence Force engineers and tradies are helping counterparts in Papua New Guinea build a 350km highway that will link more than 100 remote mountain villages.

New Zealand soldiers have taken part in urban warfare and amphibious training exercises with three other Pacific nations.

16 years after her last visit, former spokesperson for the Auckland East Timor Independence Committee Marie Leadbeater finds it a study in contrasts.

The New Zealand Defence Force is participating in an exercise that will see almost 30,000 troops training in multiple locations in Australia and the US.

Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee has just paid a secret trip to visit

Despite denials by Prime Minister John Key, there are growing signs that advances by Isis fighters will raise the risks facing Kiwi troops in Iraq, writes Robert G. Patman.

The news that Islamic State (Isis) fighters have advanced to within 100km of Camp Taji where New Zealand's 143 military advisers are based wasn't the only bulletin from the war zone.

NZ's contingent of military training specialists have barely arrived and the folly of this military (mis)adventure is already becoming apparent, writes Armstrong.

The Defence Force says New Zealand soldiers have settled into their base in Taji, Iraq, and have started training local troops to fight the so-called Islamic State.

New Zealand soldiers have arrived at Camp Taji in Iraq to begin their deployment, the Defence Force has confirmed.

Prime Minister John Key was unable to name the head of the Islamist terrorist group Isis - but nor could the Australian Defence Minister.

Kiwi troops are leaving for Iraq today to begin a two-year deployment working alongside Australian forces.

Labour has attacked the degree of secrecy about the preparation of a New Zealand troop deployment to Iraq.

Airbus has launched a hearts and minds campaign to make New Zealanders aware of what it has to offer the Royal NZ Air Force to replace its ageing Hercules.

The deployment of 106 Defence Force personnel to a military base in Iraq will include just 16 trainers, the New Zealand Defence Force chief confirmed yesterday.

Herald political writer John Armstrong says the PM's decision to bypass the media when announcing his decision shows he is failing.

Prime Minister John Key has all but confirmed that up to 100 New Zealand Defence Force staff will be sent to the Middle East to help Australia train Iraqi soldiers to fight Isis .

Cabinet is expected to approve sending soldiers to help Iraqi forces fight the Islamic State group when it meets tomorrow.

Winston Peters says Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee should pay $43,550 in costs for an inquiry into his 'arrogant' security breach at Christchurch Airport last year.

NZ troops are preparing to return to Iraq, a decade after Kiwi soldiers were last in the violence-wracked nation. On Monday the cabinet is expected to set the ground rules for the deployment.

Replacing ageing military equipment is often fearsomely expensive.