RNZAF deploys King Air to Fiji for international surveillance work for first time

The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) for the first time deployed its MC-12K King Air aircraft to Fiji to conduct maritime surveillance patrols.

19 August, 2025

New Zealand and Fiji engage frequently on challenges facing the region, and the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) deploys aircraft and ships to work with Southwest Pacific partners such as Fiji on maritime patrols.

The RNZAF’s No. 42 Squadron regularly conducts maritime patrols with the MC-12K King Air in New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), working with other government agencies to detect and deter IUU fishing.

Air Component Commander, Air Commodore Andy Scott said Fiji was an important security partner.

“By working closely together, combining assets and expertise, we hope to counter IUU activities and help protect Fiji’s fishing stocks. IUU fishing is of concern to all our Pacific neighbours as this impacts regional security, and people’s livelihoods,” he said.

“The MC-12K King Air is an extremely versatile aircraft in both training and for operational missions. Demonstrating our ability to deploy this aircraft to the Pacific and conduct patrols with Fiji’s officials in Fiji’s EEZ is another string to its bow. 

“It has been a busy period in Fiji, as the Royal New Zealand Navy also has two uncrewed surface vessels deployed to Fiji conducting border protection tasks on behalf of the Fijian Government. 

“Recently we also had a P-8A Poseidon aircraft deployed there patrolling Fijian waters and other areas of the Pacific. Our P-8A crews regularly deploy to the Pacific, conducting maritime patrols with Forum Fisheries Agency nations and conducting patrols of high seas pockets to detect and deter IUU fishing activities.”

The RNZAF, for the first time, deployed its MC-12K King Air aircraft to Fiji to conduct maritime surveillance patrols.

RNZAF Squadron Leader Craig Clark said the deployment of the MC-12K to Fiji was a major step forward in the squadron’s ability to project capability into the Southwest Pacific in support of wider NZDF efforts in the region.

“We expected our focus during the deployment to be mainly on fisheries, but the Fijian authorities are also very interested in pleasure craft activity in their waters as they strive to combat transnational organised crime in their region,” he said. 

“The MC-12K is ideally suited to investigating vessels in the vicinity of remote islands around Fiji, often tucked into small bays or inside reefs. The crew were quickly able to pivot to any task requested of them by Fijian authorities, who were impressed by the agility and effectiveness of the MC-12K.”

Over two weeks of maritime surveillance, the crew conducted six patrols, investigating and taking imagery of almost 100 vessels. They also took key Fijian leaders up in the MC-12K to demonstrate the capability on two further flights. 

“What was also incredibly valuable was having our geospatial intelligence analysts embedded alongside their Fijian counterparts during the deployment,” Squadron Leader Clark said. 

“Our analysts learned a great deal from the Fijian analysts, and vice versa. This kind of interoperability and cooperation is at the heart of our partnership with Fiji.”

Squadron Leader Clark said it was important New Zealand could support the security and resilience of Pacific countries and of the Pacific region as a whole.

“What happens in the Pacific is important to us, and being familiar with the Southwest Pacific and our Pacific neighbours is essential, especially in the context of greater geostrategic competition and with the threat of climate change and trans-national organised crime being of great concern in the region.’’

Royal New Zealand Air Force and Republic of Fiji Navy personnel with the MC-12K King Air aircraft which has been conducting maritime surveillance patrols in Fiji.

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Bombshell finding after humiliating $147million New Zealand navy ship sinking

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/bombshell-finding-after-147million-new-zealand-navy-ship-sinking/ar-AA1v0piH?cvid=4A18C259901947FA9B76C1B2B9E1C89E&ocid=hpmsn&apiversion=v2&noservercache=1&domshim=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1&batchservertelemetry=1&noservertelemetry=1

The crew of the HMNZS Manawanui didn’t realise autopilot was engaged as it crashed into a Samoan reef, a military Court of Inquiry has found.

New Zealand‘s worst peacetime maritime accident occurred in October when the ship sunk off the coast in bad weather, with all 75 crew making it to shore in a dangerous overnight evacuation.

Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Garin Golding ordered the probe, which found a ‘series of human errors’ behind the $NZ147 million ($A133 million) ship’s loss.

‘The crew did not realise Manawanui remained in autopilot and, as a consequence, mistakenly believed its failure to respond to direction changes was the result of a thruster control failure,’ Rear Amdl Golding said.

‘Having mistakenly assessed a thruster control failure, standard procedures should have prompted ship’s crew to check that the ship was under manual control rather than in autopilot.

‘This check did not occur. Remaining in autopilot resulted in the ship maintaining a course toward land, until grounding and eventually stranding.’

HMNZS Manawanui hit a reef near Samoa, caught fire and sunk in New Zealand’s worst peacetime navy sinking

Divers survey the area around the sunken ship near the southern coast of Upulo, Samoa

The Royal New Zealand Navy ship the HMNZS Manawanui (right) in front of HMNZS Otago during a training exercise in 2020

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The finding is part of a preliminary report into the matter, with the Court of Inquiry to continue into 2025.

The vessel ran aground on October 5 while undertaking surveying work, with Commander Yvonne Gray, the ship’s captain, ordering an evacuation half an hour later.

It took around five hours for the crew to make it to shore in life rafts and inflatable boats, assisted by local seafaring Samoans who became aware of the distress.

The ship caught fire and sank early on the morning of October 6.

Rear Adml Golding said he took responsibility for the crash, and he had ordered audits across the navy fleet of eight vessels.

NZ’s naval forces were already under intense pressure, with attrition grounding up to four of the ships in recent times, and government-ordered belt-tightening.

The blunder prompted Prime Minister Chris Luxon to apologise to Samoa, a former colony of New Zealand’s which it has a history of mistreating, and organise a salvage operation.

Members of the New Zealand Defence Force on shore in Samoa after being rescued

New Zealand pursues a ‘soft power’ approach in the Pacific, often partnering with nations like Somoa and Tonga in military exercises (pictured Lieutenant Commander Tala Mafile’o of the Royal Tongan Navy presents NZ Navy Commander Yvonne Gray with a carved wooden bowl as a memento of the RNZN’s participation in the 50th Anniversary Fleet Review)

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The ship on fire before it sank on October 6 which sparked the evacuation on everyone on bo

Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Garin Golding ordered the probe, which found a ‘series of human errors’ behind the sinking

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Japanese naval ships make rare port stop in New Zealand

August 15, 2025

 The JS Ise was one of two Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers that made a port call in Wellington, New Zealand, in August 2025. IMAGE CREDIT: PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS JUSTIN MCTAGGART/U.S. NAVY

The Associated Press

Deployed on a months-long mission to deepen ties among South Pacific nations, two Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JSMDF) ships docked in Wellington in August 2025, marking the first time Japanese naval vessels have made port in New Zealand’s capital in almost 90 years.

The destroyers JS Ise and JS Suzunami sailed into Wellington harbor accompanied by the Royal New Zealand Navy multipurpose ship HMNZS Canterbury. The JMSDF vessels, with more than 500 crew members, arrived from Sydney, Australia, where Japanese and New Zealand forces were among the participants in the multilateral exercise Talisman Sabre.

The ceremonial Wellington visit came as Japan, whose only treaty ally is the United States, has increasingly sought to enhance military cooperation amid Indo-Pacific tensions.

“Our defense force [is] developing cooperative work, not only with New Zealand and Australia but also many Pacific Island Countries,” Japanese Ambassador to New Zealand Makoto Osawa said. “Our main goal is the Free and Open Indo-Pacific.”

Earlier in August, Canberra announced that Japanese firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries won a contract to build Royal Australian Navy ships, in what officials hailed as the nations’ largest defense industry agreement.

Tokyo, meanwhile, recently deployed three F-35B stealth fighter jets to Nyutabaru Air Base in Miyazaki prefecture in southern Japan. The aircraft, which have short takeoff and vertical landing capabilities, will operate from two JMSDF helicopter carriers. Tokyo plans to deploy 42 of the U.S.-made fighters.

Wellington, too, is enhancing its strategic and military relations in the region, including intensifying Pacific cooperation and security. Officials announced recently that work is underway on a defense logistics agreement with Japan to help the countries’ forces work together.

JMSDF vessels seldom deploy so far south in the Pacific Ocean — the previous visit to New Zealand was a 2016 port call to the nation’s largest city, Auckland. But the resource-rich and strategically important waters around Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island Countries are increasingly contested.

Although remote, New Zealand has recently been exposed to security tensions. In February 2025, China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy conducted unprecedented live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, drawing complaints from Canberra and Wellington after commercial flights were forced to divert abruptly

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Defence mulls whether to follow in Australia’s footsteps for navy contracts

5:01 am on 12 August 2025 Share this 

HMNZS Te Mana. Photo: Supplied/ NZ Defence Force

No decisions have been made on the make-up of the country’s naval fleet, the Ministry of Defence says.

Australia has picked Japan to build its next fleet of warships in contracts worth billions of dollars.

New Zealand has a policy of buying equipment like Australia’s, to stay “interoperable”.

The ministry said it was investigating a range of options to replace the ageing fleet after 2029.

“No decisions have been made on the make-up of New Zealand’s maritime fleet.”

Business cases would have to be done.

“Key considerations when developing a business case include: what is the Australian approach, and is there any reason for New Zealand to take a different approach.”

The defence capability plan has a focus on naval drones between now and 2029, and Budget 2025 puts upgrades to Devonport naval base and buying $2 billion-plus of maritime helicopters to the fore.

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Kiwi officer embedded in Pacific Partnership

Working with international partners to promote better medical and disaster outcomes in the Pacific has been a highlight of Lieutenant Henry Cunningham’s latest posting as a naval officer.

07 August, 2025

LT Cunningham, from Christchurch, is a Royal New Zealand Navy Maritime Logistics Officer on board the USS Pearl Harbor for Exercise Pacific Partnership 2025.

The Exercise is the US Navy’s largest annual humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific region.

Visiting nations such as Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Philippines and Papua New Guinea, the mission provides education on capacity building, medical topics, community health and knowledge exchanges around disaster response.

He joined the ship in Hawaii and will spend two months on board before handing over in Guam to another Royal New Zealand Navy officer in September.

On board he works as the assistant to the Commander of the Australian contingent to the Exercise, Commander Darren Smith, who in his role as the Director of Multinational Operations Coordination Cell is responsible for partner nations participating in the mission.

“My typical day involves meetings with Commander Smith and other partner nation leads, discussing current and future engagements for personnel. I have daily catchups with the Australian contingent, updating them on developments and tracking personnel matters.”

LT Henry Cunningham on the bridge of USS Pearl Harbor during Exercise Pacific Partnership 2025.

LT Henry Cunningham with local children following a rugby competition in Lae, Papua New Guinea, during Exercise Pacific Partnership 2025.

LT Henry Cunningham with local children following a rugby competition in Lae, Papua New Guinea, during Exercise Pacific Partnership 2025.Scroll to previous imageScroll to next image

He says his biggest takeaway from the experience is the relationships he’s built among the international personnel.

“I am gaining a far greater understanding of the differences in how we operate but also the strong similarities that each of our navies  share, whether that’s around personnel recruitment and retention, financial constraints or the reasons for joining the military.”

In a nod to the partner nation vibe, LT Cunningham keeps fit with daily physical training sessions run by a German Navy medical officer.

Another highlight was being promoted from Sub Lieutenant to Lieutenant aboard Pearl Harbor last month.

His advice to anyone taking on this kind of deployment is to “be yourself, be flexible and make sure to correct those that confuse you as an Australian”.

LT Cunningham, who joined the Navy in 2022, has served with HMNZS Taupo, HMNZS Manawanui, Defence Logistics Command and Operation Antarctica.

On his return to New Zealand, LT Cunningham is looking forward to watching the rest of the rugby season and shaping future sailors in his new posting as a training officer with the Leadership Development Group.

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International exercise in Guam tests RNZAF air mobility, aero-medical skills

United States Air Force (USAF)-led Exercise Mobility Guardian has provided an opportunity for Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) personnel to flex their skills in Guam.

06 August, 2025

An RNZAF C-130J-30 Hercules aircraft from No. 40 Squadron at RNZAF Base Auckland and contingent of about 30 aviators including aircrew, maintainers, an air load team and medics as aeromedical observers, are now back on home soil.

They took part in the air mobility component of the USAF Exercise Resolute Force Pacific, which practises the delivery of air combat power at the levels needed to deal with a rapidly escalating crisis – should one occur.

In addition to the USAF, participants included the air forces of Australia, Canada, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom, alongside the United States Marine Corps, US Army and the Japanese Self-Defence Force.

The detachment commander, Squadron Leader Mel Fieldes, said the main focus was on practising and improving how the participants work together in stressful situations to project combat power.

“This type of training ensures that we can respond effectively and quickly, to security challenges, and shows the commitment of all nations involved to maintaining regional stability,” she said. 

“Situations such as these, where we deploy into an unfamiliar environment and need to build effective relationships quickly from scratch, are invaluable opportunities to test our full range of skills. 

“We’re very happy with what we achieved over there.  We’ve all come home with a range of new learnings and understandings of how our Defence partners operate.”

A RNZAF C-130J Hercules aircraft and 30 aviators including aircrew, maintainers, an air load team and medics as aeromedical observers, have taken part in Exercise Mobility Guardian in Guam

Squadron Leader Fieldes said a particular highlight was a simulated aero-medical evacuation in which RNZAF medics worked alongside British and Canadian counterparts on a Royal Air Force aircraft. 

“The flight simulated the care of critically ill people, including dealing with onboard medical emergencies until the patients could be transferred to higher-level care once the aircraft landed. 

“It was a perfect example of how we improve by working together, thereby making our own military stronger,” she said.

Watch Video: RNZAF C-130J Hercules aircraft and crew during Exercise Mobility Guardian video

Video: RNZAF C-130J Hercules aircraft and crew during Exercise Mobility Guardian

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