Future frigate programme highlights broader RNZN replacement challenge
HMNZS Te Kaha, the Royal New Zealand Navy’s first Anzac-class frigate, sails at sea. (Photo: Royal New Zealand Navy)
New Zealand’s evaluation of the Mogami and Arrowhead 140 frigate designs reflects a wider push for alliance interoperability, and points to a larger recapitalisation of the Royal New Zealand Navy fleet beyond the current programme.
New Zealand’s future frigate decision is increasingly framed as a choice between two markedly different naval philosophies: Japan’s Mogami-class and the Arrowhead 140, the Babcock-designed platform underpinning the UK’s Type 31 general-purpose frigate.
Public debate has focused almost entirely on the two warships intended to replace the Royal New Zealand Navy’s (RNZN’s) Anzac-class frigates.
Speaking to Shephard, Dr Peter Greener, senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic Studies, Victoria University of Wellington (VUW), and honorary professor at the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) Command and Staff College, said that framing understates the scale of what Wellington is
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