New Zealand To Scrap A-4s, Air Combat Capability By End Of Year
Defense Daily 05/09/01
author: Neil Baumgardner
New Zealand has decided to disband its air combat force by the end of the year, retiring the Royal New Zealand Air Force's
(RNZAF) 17 A-4K attack planes without replacement, while increasing the country's overall defense budget by $294
million over the next 10 years, defense minister Mark Burton said yesterday.
"It is with sadness that the government has decided to disband the air combat arm," Burton said in a statement. "While the
professionalism and skill of the pilots and support crew has been second to none, their equipment is outdated and has never
been used in a combat role. The simple fact is that New Zealand cannot afford modern combat aircraft and the weaponry
needed to equip them, and also maintain adequate army and navy capabilities. The Air Force, therefore, will be refocused.
Its key roles will be in maritime patrol and air transport."
The move follows New Zealand's decision last year to withdraw from a $190 million deal to lease 28 Lockheed Martin
[LMT] F-16s from the United States to replace the aging A-4s. The lease had been initiated in 1999 by the prior National
Party government and was terminated by the new Labor Party government following a review that found the program to be
too costly for the country's defense budget (Defense Daily, March 30, 2000).
New Zealand first acquired the A-4 in 1968, the third export customer for the aircraft. In 1986, New Zealand initiated the
Project Kahu upgrade program for its A-4s, equipping them with Northrop Grumman [NOC] APG-66 radars, Raytheon
[RTNA/RTNB] AIM-9L Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missiles, and GBU-16
bombs. Two RNZAF A-4s have crashed over the past year, leaving the country with 17 remaining aircraft.
Maintaining the A-4Ks would have cost $210 million over the next five years, or $500 million over the next 10 years, the
government said. Cutting the aircraft will save New Zealand, which was currently only funding them at a basic level, $168
million over the next five years and $365 million over the next 10 years.
In addition to its A-4Ks, The RNZAF's 17 MB339CB jet trainers, made by Italy's Aermacchi, will be retired as part of
the cuts. It is not clear how New Zealand will dispose of the aircraft following their retirement. The RNZAF has operated
combat aircraft since 1937.
Remaining A-4 operators include Argentina, Brazil, which operates them from the aircraft carrier Minas Gerais and soon
the newly acquired Clemenceau-class carrier Sao Paulo, Indonesia, Israel, Singapore, and the U.S. Navy.
The move also means the RNZAF will have to withdraw from Australia's Naval Air Station Nowra, where the A-4s
provide threat training for the Royal Australian Navy. Australian defense minister Peter Reith said New Zealand's decision
to ax its air combat capability would have only a temporary effect on Australian Defence Force training.null