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Maritime Forces Review

Annex A - Terms of Reference

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Background

  1. In its 2 April 2001 decisions on a sustainable capability plan for the NZDF (CAB MIN (01) 10/10) Cabinet agreed to a Maritime Forces 1 Review to identify fleet composition options for the Government. In addition to the civilian, military and foreign policy related uses of naval vessels, the Review is to take into account:
    • The civilian requirement for coastal and mid-range off-shore capabilities;
    • The roles to be performed in conjunction with New Zealand’s responsibilities and obligations in respect to the Southern Ocean and Ross Dependency as well as the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau;
    • The need for tactical sealift capability, including that specifically relating to disaster relief and other tasks in the South Pacific;
    • The roles to be performed by the RNZN at a wider regional and global level;
    • The combat and detection equipment on the Seasprite helicopters; and
    • The need for and priority to be accorded to the roles to be performed by the RNZN Volunteer Reserve.
  2. These requirements are to also consider the interaction of the civilian requirements identified by the Maritime Patrol Review and the military requirements identified in the Land Forces and Sealift Reviews.
  3. A separate study will be conducted to review the utility of the hydrographic and survey roles currently performed by Resolution. Options developed in this Maritime Forces Review will, therefore, need to consider the impact of the potential disposal of Resolution from the current RNZN fleet.

Aim

  1. The aim of the Review is to identify fleet composition options of the future RNZN surface fleet taking into account the civilian, military and foreign policy roles. In identifying these fleet options the following capability areas will be addressed:
    1. Combat, including helicopter capabilities;
    2. Constabulary (resource protection, customs, etc);
    3. Tactical sealift;
    4. Tanker/support;
    5. Mine counter-measures (MCM);
    6. Naval control of shipping (NCS); and
    7. Interaction with maritime aircraft.

Scope

  1. The Review is to be conducted in two phases, utilising where appropriate, information already compiled for previous reviews. The broad aims of the two phases and the tasks within each phase are:

    Phase I – Strategic guidance

    1. Identify and confirm the intent of the high-level defence policy guidance of the Government that will influence the shape and size of the maritime surface fleet. This will include:
      1. Identification of the defence policy underpinning the requirement for surface vessels;
      2. Incorporation of the Government’s views on broad defence strategies and responses for achieving defence policy goals utilising maritime surface capabilities, either independently or as part of a joint or combined force;
    2. Review the current and future strategic environment to identify those key factors and threats likely to impact upon the demand for, and capabilities required of, the maritime forces. Included within these relevant key factors will be assessments of the following:
      1. Physical environmental drivers;
      2. Technological trends and issues;
      3. Economic & Financial implications;
      4. Foreign Policy/Political trends; and
      5. Personnel/Human resources trends.
    3. Identify the broad strategic roles that the maritime surface vessels should be capable of contributing to and the operational tasks that it should be capable of performing that are consistent with the policies of the Government. This will be done by:
      1. Identifying strategic relationships, civilian and military roles and military tasks that take into account the demands of the maritime environment in the NZDF’s potential areas of operations, maritime doctrine and other NZDF assets, including maritime patrol aircraft;
      2. Identifying performance characteristics and measures, consistent with the identified roles, policy and operating environment demands;
      3. For operational analysis purposes, identifying generic missions and associated tasks within scenarios that reflect the Government’s policy;
      4. Identifying possible fleet mix options for generic platform types and general characteristics for performing selected roles and tasks. The options need to take into account the current and future investment in the two ANZAC frigates (Te Mana and Te Kaha), the retention of Endeavour, the disposal of Charles Upham and the desirability and practicality of retaining the existing fleet of inshore patrol craft (Moa, Kiwi, Wakakura and Hinau), the diving tender Manawanui, as well as the pending decommissioning of HMNZS Canterbury. It will also need to consider any consequences associated with the potential disposal of Resolution following the Hydrographic Review;
      5. Identifying rough-order costs and capabilities for each fleet option, including any mid-life upgrades and other investments needed to maintain required capability levels; and
      6. Refining the options and selecting an appropriate set for study in detail.

    Phase II – Analysis of fleet options and numbers

    1. Analyse and cost the potential options for the future composition of the maritime surface fleet as well as possible transition plans from the current force structure. The policy and operational implications of those options will be assessed by:
      1. Identifying the effectiveness of each option for meeting the Government’s defence policy needs, including any operational risks, tradeoffs and policy gaps;
      2. Estimating the rough order of magnitude costs of future capital investment and through life costs for each option, including any costs associated with transitioning to a new force structure and mid-life costs associated with maintenance of required capability levels;
      3. Identifying a broad general transition plan from an existing force structure that can act as a guide for subsequent force structuring and capital acquisition/disposal activity; and,
      4. Completing a final report summarising the findings and fleet options.

Conduct of the analysis

  1. The Review will require an interdisciplinary team involving MoD (Policy & Planning Division) who will lead the study, RNZN and HQ NZDF. The Review is to be conducted with regular consultation and dialogue with Treasury, MFAT and DPM&C. Other interested parties, including participants in the Maritime Patrol Review (Feb. 2001), will also be consulted as deemed appropriate by the Secretary of Defence.
  2. Consultants will need to be engaged in the modelling and costing sections of the Review. Project specification and approval associated with this external work will be undertaken separately. Where appropriate, existing material emanating from previous Review’s will be utilised where possible.
  3. A report will be submitted for consideration of the Minister of Defence at the conclusion of the Review.
  4. Based on experience a large policy Review of this nature takes approximately 6 to 9 months to complete. However, a considerable amount of this work has already been completed through 1999-2001. To ensure sufficient time for the Review to work through the issues associated with revised policy, a timeframe of the end of September 2001 has been set for the completion of a draft final report. This will provide the Government with guidance on decisions related to investments within the existing fleet, as well as new purchases where necessary.

Deliverables

  1. The Review will identify options for the future size and shape of the maritime surface fleet including potential transition plans from the existing force structure. The Review will be used as the basis against which detailed specifications for maritime capabilities will be developed and any future acquisition will be undertaken.
  2. Once decisions have been made in relation to the outcome of this Review, force structuring and capital acquisition planning will be undertaken to develop detailed programming and budgeting proposals.

 

Graham Fortune
Secretary of Defence

June 2001

  1. Maritime forces refer to all of those elements that operate in the maritime environment, including ships and aircraft. While this review will not address specific capability issues associated with aircraft (these having been addressed in the Feb. 2001 Maritime Patrol Review), it will nevertheless take into account the roles performed by maritime surveillance aircraft within the concept of a maritime system.

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