Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / John Battersby: Massey University Centre for Defence and Security Studies Senior Fellow on if the defence system needs overhauling

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John Battersby: Massey University Centre for Defence and Security Studies Senior Fellow on if the defence system needs overhauling · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The New Zealand Initiatives, warning the government that it's twelve
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: billion dollar defense splash might not go far enough without
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: a big system overhaul. This is the government's defense capability
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: plan four years, being nine billion in new cash. They
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: are calling the initiative for a ninety day review faster
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: intelligence of investment. This is a report by the retired
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Major General John Howard. John battersby Massive University Center for
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Defense and Security Studies with me this morning.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: John, Good morning, Good morning to you.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Do you agree with it?
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Yes, broadly, haven't seen the whole thing, but the summary
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: that has been made available to me year look, in
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  Speaker 2: general terms, I think absolutely bureaucratic organizations do become a
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: little bit set in their ways. The world's changing. You've
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: just had some commentary about some of the changes going
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: on in the Middle East and how that's going to impact.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: So the world is changing, our regional environment is changing,
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: and we do need to ask the question whether in
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: fact we are set up to make the best out
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: of the limited amount of funding we get, and if
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: we're getting an extra burst into say defense capable we
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: really do need to be sensible to look at what
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: we need to do in twenty twenty six onwards. To
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: make the best value out of that.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: The military is obviously very used to buying ships and aircraft.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: Do we need to be buying drones and speedboats instead?
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: Oh? I think if you asked a number of people
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: in the military they would say absolutely. We probably still
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: need to look at the capabilities that we've traditionally had
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: to see you. I mean, drones can't do everything, but
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: they can do an awful lot at a much less
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  Speaker 2: cost and much less maintenance cost and operating cost as well.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: We've got a huge economic zone, We've got changing regional
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: security priorities, We've got We're not sure what the US
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: is going to do in the Pacific. We are looking
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: at a much more set of China in the Pacific.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: What does that mean for any of us? So, yeah,
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: we've got a number of things that we need to
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: be conscious of and if there is a much better
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: or cheaper, easier, more efficient way to do it, let's
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: do it. The Ukraine War has been a petri dish
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: for the development of drone technology. Let's take some lessons
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  Speaker 2: out of it.
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  Speaker 1: What do we do about generally about asymmetric warfare? Small guys,
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  Speaker 1: small players, terrorists who have a couple of drones couple
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: of speedboats can hold the world to ransom and your
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: conventional power doesn't really matter anymore. What do we do
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: about that?
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  Speaker 2: Well, se there's two things there. We're a small player,
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: so we've got to be able to make the most
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: of the capability that's out there and get the most
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: efficient use out of it. So to a certain extent,
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: we've got to look to what are the advantages of
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: being in an asymmetric player, what can we do as
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  Speaker 2: a small state. So there's that one. The second one again,
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  Speaker 2: Ukraine's a petri dish for anti drone technology and drone
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: detection technology, and you're absolutely right. Criminals and terrorists extremists
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  Speaker 2: can also start looking at what's going and adapt these
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: things for them. So yeah, we've got to look at
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  Speaker 2: how we can use those positively in the defense of
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: New Zealand's interests. But we've also got to look at
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: how we defend ourselves from the threats that can emerge,
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: and the ones you've mentioned are included in that.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: John battersby Massive University Center of Defense and Security Studies.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: For more from early edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
• 3:25
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• 3:28
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