In April 2025 the Government released the latest Defence Capability Plan.
The 2025 Defence Capability Plan outlines indicative investments to ensure the NZDF is:
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Combat capable with enhanced lethality and deterrent effect: the NZDF will need to have the combat readiness, capability, and resilience to act in dangerous situations and environments, for extended periods of time. The NZDF also needs greater flexibility to both protect against and utilise new technologies, as well as an ability to deter adversaries through new strike capabilities. This requires investment across the maritime, land, aerospace, and information domains.
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A force multiplier with Australia and interoperable with partners: New Zealand and Australia have committed to modernise our alliance and further strengthen our bilateral defence relationship, including the development of an increasingly integrated ‘Anzac’ force.
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Innovative and has improved situational awareness: innovation in this DCP covers new ways of doing things, as well as exploring new technologies for the NZDF that will help with intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). This includes exploring new technologies for the NZDF such as uncrewed vehicles, new space technologies, and increased funding for Defence Science & Technology.
About capability plans
About capability plans
The role of a Defence Capability Plan (DCP) is to lay out the future needs of the Defence Force to deliver Government policy and protect New Zealand’s interests.
The 2025 Defence Capability Plan been designed with a 15-year horizon in mind. It deliberately focuses on critical investments in the next four years to ensure there is the flexibility to adapt as the world changes.
Indicative investments out to 2040 have been outlined to show the intent for the force of the future, but it is not a static plan. The mix of investments and timings is likely to change over the next 15 years.
The plan will be updated every two years, and an industry strategy is underway to support its implementation.
Capability plan process
Capability plan process
The process for developing a Defence Capability Plan includes:
- Information gathering via processes such as the maritime domain market research. This is to ensure Defence has a good understanding of what capabilities and options are available in the market.
- Developing option sets for decision making. This refines the information gathered in the first phase to develop options for the ways Defence can deliver on Government expectations over the next 15 years – this will include people, asset and through life support. Defence may require more detailed information from the material gathered in the first phase.
- Development of a detailed and integrated DCP which, once approved, will signal the Government’s future investment intentions for Defence until 2040.
To support the implementation, an industry strategy will be developed in 2025.
The Plan will be updated every two years, beginning in 2027.
Planned investment is staged and individual business cases will be developed as usual for major capability procurement.
