An RNZAF Orion has been taken off the search for a New Zealander lost overboard in the Pacific Ocean as hopes of his survival fade.

Every arm of the Defence Force will undergo changes to gain greater efficiency of operation from a constrained state purse, the defence white paper suggests.

The country's top military leader has publicly apologised to the family of an airman killed when an old artillery round unexpectedly exploded.

Eighty people who lost family members in the 1979 Erebus tragedy will travel to Antarctica on a remembrance flight this summer after their names were drawn in a ballot.

A New Zealand Air Force Orion is winging its way to Antarctica to evacuate a critically ill American man.

The Air Force may come under pressure to restrict drinking hours at its canteens amid concern about its drinking culture.

Two men have been rescued from stormy seas off Niue after their yacht capsized yesterday.

A double-pronged aid effort is getting up a head of steam in Tuvalu this week, as more than 300 New Zealand Defence Force staff descend on the tiny nation north of Fiji and nearly 4000km from New Zealand.

Police plan to crack down on speeding motorists doing as little as 4km over the limit this weekend.