Aotearoa New Zealand’s second P-8A Poseidon arrived home on March 20th bringing the fleet halfway to completion. The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) prematurely retired its remaining three P-3K2 Orions in January creating a capability gap. The four-strong P-8A fleet isn’t scheduled to achieve initial capability release until June, pending the arrival of aircraft number four and more New Zealand-specific training.
RNZAF Poseidon Transition Milestones
| Month | Milestone |
| March | Training flights around Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and the Tasman Sea. |
| April | Training over the Pacific. |
| June | Initial Capability Release and certification for Search and Rescue missions. |
| July | Certification of Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief capability. |
In preparation for standing up the P-8A capability, RNZAF aircrew have been training with the United States Navy (USN) for nearly three years on all aspects of P-8A operations. Squadron Leader Stephen Graham, Executive Officer of the Poseidon Transition Unit, said that while the USN had prepared the aircrew well for warfighting they hadn’t developed skills in critical areas such as search and rescue (SAR) and humanitarian aid and disaster relief (HADR). Unlike other P-8A operators, where SAR is a secondary mission, for the RNZAF and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) it’s a primary one.
“The aircrew comes back very well trained in warfare by the U.S Navy, but as the US Coastguard generally looks after search and rescue, this aspect is not specifically covered during [USN] transition training. Australia, on the other hand, has an operating model that’s much closer to ours and like us, they do use their maritime patrol fleet for search and rescue. The Australians have put a lot of effort into making the P-8A a capable search and rescue platform and we’re very lucky they are willing to share this experience with us”
That isn’t to say, however, the RNZAF is entirely neglecting the warfighting mission. In a previously undisclosed purchase, the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) ordered an unspecified number of Mark 54 Mod 0 Lightweight torpedoes. It’s not clear if the new Mark 54s will be reserved for the Poseidon fleet alone, or if they’ll supplement the legacy Mark 46 torpedoes aboard the RNZAFs SH-2G(I) Seasprites and Royal New Zealand Navy’s (RNZN) newly upgraded Anzac class frigates.
Sarah Minson, Deputy Secretary, Capability Delivery at the New Zealand Ministry of Defence told Naval News that “operational sensitivity” prevents them from discussing details, including quantity and timeframe, of the previously undisclosed purchase.
“The MK 54 Torpedo is included in the P-8A Poseidon purchase. Operational sensitivity precludes us from providing any further details.”
