Maritime Forces Review
Shaping factors
- There are a number of factors that shape the way in which these policy requirements are delivered. These key
shaping factors can be summarised as follows:
- New Zealand needs vessels that are of adequate length and displacement to operate effectively and safely in New Zealand’s extreme maritime environment. Vessels also need the range, endurance, and on-board capabilities to perform their roles in New Zealand’s extensive maritime area of interest.
- In the inshore zone of the EEZ, vessels need the capability to operate in conditions up to and including Sea State 4. (See Table 1 for an explanation of Sea State conditions.) To operate year round in the offshore zone of the EEZ, vessels need the capability to operate in conditions up to and including Sea State 6. In the Southern Ocean, sea states can exceed Sea State 8.
- Given the vastness of the maritime area around New Zealand and in the Southern Ocean it is desirable to operate a helicopter to extend the surveillance range of the vessel.
- Vessels need to be interoperable with New Zealand civilian agencies, other NZDF elements and regional defence partners.
- Emerging security challenges in the South Pacific, such as illegal fishing and transnational crime, as well as ongoing communal tensions, particularly in Melanesia, are likely to result in increasing demands for RNZN vessels to conduct presence and response operations.
- The vessels that New Zealand deploys to regional and global operations will need to keep pace with advances in technology, particularly in terms of self-protection and interoperability. Maintaining the capability of the ANZAC frigates will be a future requirement.
- Contributing to peace support operations will require naval forces that are trained and equipped for combat. There will be a growing demand for vessels to support land forces in a littoral environment, including provision of: sealift; fire support; command, control and communications; and logistic support.
Table 1: Sea state conditions
| Sea State | Mean Wave Height (metres) |
Mean Wind State (knots) |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 – 1 | 0 | 3 | Calm-glassy to calm-rippled |
| 2 | 0.3 | 9 | Smooth wavelets |
| 3 | 1 | 14 | Slight |
| 4 | 2 | 19 | Moderate |
| 5 | 3 | 25 | Rough |
| 6 | 5 | 38 | Very Rough |
| 7 | 8 | 52 | High |
| 8 | 12 | 60 | Very High |
| 9 | >14 | >63 | Phenomenal |
