Return of the fighting Kiwi?

[Flyingblind]

Air Force's Aermacchis may be returned to service - 01 Dec 2008 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10545947)

Might be some instructor positions next year in the land of the long white cloud?

[Lyneham Lad]

Probably not!

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has objected to a statement by his Defense Minister that the RNZAF's Aermacchi jet trainers might be brought back into service.

"I would have thought the Defence Force has much greater priorities," he said when asked about comments by Mapp.

John Key shoots down return of air strike capability (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10546026)

[Blacksheep]

Defence Force?? :confused:

[corsair]

What's the point of jet trainers when there are no fast jets to fly after training? New Zealand really doesn't need the capability. Their Air Force seems mostly to be a support for the army which is their proper role. Air Defence and strike won't be needed unless Australia gets belligerent.

Small countries need to prioritise their defence budgets. Ireland is similar but we still use PC9s as ab initio trainers for pilots whose first operational assignment would probably be to fly Cessna 172s or helicopters. We have helicopters that are merely civilian painted green which cannot be deployed overseas or in the field at home. It's ridiculous.

At least NZ seems to taken the pragmatic approach. There really is no need for fast jets.

[Brain Potter]

I think that any country that could be regarded as having "western" values is foolish not maintain a small fleet of aircraft for "air-policing" duties. NZ is geographically remote, but is not out of range of terrorists in airliners or biz-jets.

Even if a country regards itself as neutral and it's government has not supported any recent US foreign policy, there is no guarantee it won't become a target. Something as simple as a freedom of speech issue that is perceived as a blasphemy against a particular religion could very rapidly raise that nation's profile in the eyes of lunatics.

[L J R]

Will they do what the A-4s did prior to their retirement? via a vis Navy support - at a much reduced speed. Contractors for that type of activity in that part of the world is not easily sourced.

....keeps the Navy on their toes, and is fun to boot!

[Arclite01]

What Navy..............:}

Arc

[juliet]

Would potentially be a good idea to get the Macchi going again. King Air is due to be replaced at a pretty high cost, so would be far cheaper to use the Macchi as the advanced trainer rather than buying/leasing new King Airs.

No real need for the King Air in terms of training, Aussie multi engine pilots go straight to Hercs etc from the PC9.

Macchis would be able to provide training to the Navy and Army. Overall I think having the jet would provide more output than the King Airs for all 3 services.

[layman]

from a (perhaps naive) Australian perspective - NZ sends officer cadets to ADFA

Any particular reason(s) they couldn't use BFTS, 2FTS (then 79 if necessary)?

cheers
layman

[Trojan1981]

Any particular reason(s) they couldn't use BFTS, 2FTS (then 79 if necessary)?



The RAAF probably don't have much spare capacity. The availlability of the PC-9 is reducing as the fleet ages and personell shortages are really starting to bite on the maintenance side.

[Squeezer]

They [National] are in coalition with with a far-right, pro NZDF party in ACT who've been strongly in favour of reinsatating the MB-339C Aermacchi (half of the airframes) to its pre-1999 role of advanced training* to 'bridge the cap' so to speak between ab inito and front line types. The lease on the KingAirs runs out next year.

*Prior to 1999, all RNZAF pilots recieved some training on the Aermacchi, a proven system which produced some outstanding pilots. This was given the chop following the mid-1990s economic recession. Following the introduction of the Hercules and Orion of glass cockpits in 2002(?) [believe it or not], some pilots reported experiencing difficulties in coping with the transition from KingAir to P3K-2/C130H/B757.

In "greater priorities", Mr. Key maybe referring to defense aquisitions such as Projetct Projector - basically a Multi-Role Vessel in addition to patrol craft to frighten those dastardly Tuna pirates. Christ knows how the Navy proposes to man 'em given the current recruitment/retention issues afflicting the dark blue.

http://www.navy.mil.nz/visit-the-fleet/project-protector/