Wednesday, 24 September 2025, 2:32 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Defence Force

Ships, fighter jets and cyber teams are converging in Southeast Asia this month as five nations come together for Exercise Bersama Lima 25, a major training activity under the long-standing Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA).

More than 130 New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel are taking part, alongside personnel from Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

The Royal New Zealand Navy’s HMNZS Aotearoa is among the participating assets, which include a UK Carrier Strike Group and Royal Australian Air Force F-35A Lightning II fighter jets.

Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Singleton is leading the New Zealand detachment.

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“Bersama Lima is about building trust and teamwork with our regional partners,” he said.

“It’s a chance to strengthen relationships while sharpening the skills we need for future operations.”

Lieutenant Colonel Singleton said the aim was to enhance the NZDF’s ability to plan and conduct joint operations as part of a larger Task Force.

Over the course of the exercise, personnel will engage in diverse challenges including cyber defence, humanitarian aid and disaster relief, and anti-submarine warfare, building the skills needed to respond together in today’s complex security environment.

Speaking at the opening of the exercise, Commander of the Armed Forces of Malaysia, General Tan Sri Hj Mohd Nizam bin Hj Jaffar, said Bersama Lima reflected the shared commitment of all five nations.

“This exercise deepens our collective commitment to regional security in the spirit of camaraderie,” he said.

“It sharpens our ability to act as one and fosters a greater understanding of one another.”

Established in 1971, the FPDA remains Southeast Asia’s only multilateral defence arrangement. More than five decades later, it continues to foster cooperation, security and enduring partnerships between its five member nations.

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RNZ

24 Sep, 2025 01:16 PM2 mins to read

The HMNZS Otago has been parked at Devonport Naval base since 2022. Photo / RNZ, Ian Telfer

By Phil Pennington of RNZ

After sinking the $100 million HMNZS Manawanui survey ship off Samoa 11 months ago, the Navy is spending $35m to start up a ship not used for three years.

The HMNZS Otago has been parked up at Devonport Naval base since 2022, when the navy ran too short of personnel to run it.

The Defence Force says getting the offshore patrol vessel going again will take till the middle of next year, followed by tests, before it can go back into service.

“The reactivation involves significant engineering work to replace obsolete systems and restore operational readiness,” it told RNZ.

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That included overhauling the engines and putting in a new water ballast treatment system.

The costs are being paid out of baseline funding.

“New funding was not requested from the Government.”

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It must achieve what is called “Operational Class Certification” through the Lloyd’s Register before it can sail again.

The Manawanui was listed as a $77m write-off in the last Budget, on top of $32m spent on clean-up and salvage, though the wreck itself remains underwater on a reef off the Samoan island of Upolu, to the discontent of some local villagers.

Its sinking was put down to a catalogue of failures by the Navy, including undertraining, and not understanding how the ship operated.

Despite the $35m injection, the Otago will not be able to take on the Manawanui’s specialist dive and hydrographic tasks.

It will instead do fishery patrols, border protection work, and research and supply, and provide a “presence” in the Pacific.

“This reactivation is part of our broader effort to increase fleet availability and responsiveness, while we assess long-term capability needs through the maritime fleet renewal programme,” the NZDF said.

It decided early on after the sinking not to replace Manawanui.

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The first four years of the fleet renewal, through to 2029, would revolve around acquiring maritime drones, not ships, to give a chance for emerging tech to trigger “transformational change for the Navy”, the Defence Capability Plan released in April said.

Dive and hydrographic surveys would be undertaken by “other platforms”, it said.

Leading Hydrographic Survey Technician Renee Mullins has transferred a love of being on the water and marine science to a career in the Navy.

25 September, 2025

From Heyward Point in Dunedin, Renee joined the Royal New Zealand Navy following a suggestion from her science teacher at Otago Girls High School.

“I loved being on and around the water and spent a lot of time sailing on Otago Harbour,” she said.

“At high school I did a lot of the marine science side of things and really enjoyed it. I had a science teacher who suggested maybe the Navy offers a combination of both being on the water and marine science. That’s how I found hydrography over all the other things I could have chosen.

“I spent the first year in Basic Common Training and then a year at sea focussing on the seamanship side of things before starting surveying as a trade at HMNZS Matataua at the Devonport Naval Base in Auckland.

“I’ve had some pretty good opportunities and travelled the world a little bit. I’ve been to a couple of different islands now, Nauru being one of them. I also did RIMPAC in 2020, and I’ve had two years sailing with the Experiential Leadership Squadron sailing with new recruits and promotional courses.”

At the beginning of 2024, Leading Hydrographic Survey Technician Mullins came back to surveying, work which has recently seen her return to her hometown of Dunedin as her tightly knit team conducted boat ramp surveys in Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin and Bluff in preparation for potential future operations of Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV) in the South Island.

The Navy’s newest USVs, named Tahi and Rua, are seven metres long and weigh one tonne. They can be transported by ship, air or by road on a trailer and are renewably powered by solar, wind and wave energy, giving them a three-month mission endurance and unlimited range. This means they can stay at sea for long periods without support.

While the Navy has no current plans to operate the USV from the South Island, the survey would ensure it could do so if the need arose.

Acoustically silent, they are particularly suitable for conducting surveillance and reconnaissance operations and are packed with sensors, radar, camera and communication equipment. While at sea, they are monitored 24/7 by Navy personnel in a control room at the Devonport Naval Base.

If there was a message Leading Hydrographic Survey Technician Mullins would give students at Otago Girls High thinking about a future career, it’s to consider the Navy.

“I’d tell the kids at school it’s definitely worth it. It gave me the opportunity to work, learn and travel and earn money without the pressure of university.”

A Seasprite maritime helicopter and its associated equipment and ammunition is on its way to Singapore thanks to the transport capabilities of the Royal Australian Air Force.

19 September, 2025

The SH-2G(I) Seasprite Helicopter from No. 6 Squadron, was this week loaded aboard a Boeing C-17A Globemaster III at RNZAF Base Auckland.

The helicopter will connect with Maritime Sustainment Vessel HMNZS Aotearoa which has been undergoing maintenance in Singapore since April.

Watch Seasprite helicopter transported for duty in Asia | Royal New Zealand Navy video

Seasprite helicopter transported for duty in Asia | Royal New Zealand Navy

Aotearoa is set to take part in Exercise Bersama Lima, a Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) tactical level military exercise being hosted in Malaysia. The FPDA is a multilateral defence pact established in 1971 between Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

The ship and its embarked helicopter will also contribute to the monitoring of United Nations Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea.

While Royal New Zealand Air Force NH-90s have been transported by C-17As before, this is a first for this variant of Seasprite.

No. 6 Squadron maintainers prepared the helicopter for transport, folding in and securing the rotors, while Air Movements packaged the freight and assessed the weights.

Flight Sergeant Sam Collis, Air Movements Section Coordinator at Base Auckland, says the total weight was nearly 21 tonnes, around 45,000 pounds.

Air Movements can weigh the helicopter using portable vehicle scales.

“The helicopter weighed in at 4,971kg. The rest was freight.”

That included the ‘Mantis’, the aircraft tug needed to pull a helicopter within a ship’s hangar and on the flight deck.

Aotearoa undertook the same operation last year, refuelling international navy vessels in support of the Seventh Fleet and conducting monitoring to detect and deter sanctions evasions.