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Opinion: Following the election of the Albanese and Luxon governments, there has been a marked increase in support of the historic defence partnership between Australia and New Zealand, with key capabilities like simulation key to building cross-Tasman capability.
During the inaugural Australia-New Zealand Foreign and Defence Ministerial Consultations (ANZMIN) forum in February 2024, both nations’ defence and foreign affairs ministers committed to increased integration between “military forces, including through common capability”, a clear signal of intent to further strengthen trans-Tasman defence engagements.
A key focus of these engagements has been to reinforce the deep and shared history of operational service, organisational cooperation and regional partnerships between the two nations’ militaries, with a view to achieving enhanced interoperability, evolving into interchangeability.
The commitment to a more seamless defence partnership is a strategic imperative for both nations. As Australia’s foreign minister noted during ANZMIN, we are “at a time of the most difficult or challenging strategic circumstances since the Second World War", which requires Australia and New Zealand to work in lock step on shared regional objectives.
The ready-made mechanism in Plan ANZAC to operationally uplift the interoperability of the New Zealand and Australian armies is already in place and continues to gather momentum following the most recent ANZMIN engagement.
Co-signed by the respective Army chiefs in April 2023, Plan ANZAC serves as a bilateral service cooperation plan to deliver on trans–Tasman defence objectives. Plan ANZAC is driven by four lines of effort: complementary strategic engagement, integrated capability development, integrated training systems and complementary personnel and readiness systems.
Commenting on the plan, then New Zealand Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell said the New Zealand Army was working to “better share lessons across capability development, doctrine for training and many other areas” with an aim to regenerate land-combat capability. These attitudes are best reflected in the Australian and New Zealand Defence Forces exchange of deputy commander appointments to their respective joint operations.
This is a move aimed at substantially deepening the trans-Tasman defence partnership and coincides with an opportunity emerging within the NZDF. In its bid for capability redevelopment, the New Zealand Army has made substantial investment in simulation training solutions as a critical enabler.
As announced on 21 August 2024, the New Zealand Army has procured Bohemia Interactive Simulations’ (BISim) VBS4 advanced simulation software for the New Zealand Army’s training capability. The expanded use of this leading platform by New Zealand is already delivering effective training, providing advanced capability beyond conventional training and planning platforms, with VBS4 and other platforms being deployed with great effect by allied defence forces including the US, the UK, France, Germany and Sweden.
The New Zealand Army’s acquisition of VBS4 presents an opportunity for increased engagement with allies, in particular Australia, with the ADF already using a mix of VBS3 and VBS4 across certain projects.
The possibility of a joint use training platform would provide continuous, interoperable training opportunities with strategic partners and allies across a broader range of assets than might otherwise be physically available. Large-scale joint training exercises, such as Talisman Sabre, generate significant joint training and capability uplift for Australian and New Zealand Army personnel. Similarly, the major natural disasters in Vanuatu in early 2023 demonstrate the type of regional mission requiring Plan ANZAC partners’ humanitarian assistance and disaster response capabilities.
These joint operations and training exercises offer invaluable experience for ADF and NZDF personnel but lengthy periods between joint activity and exercises risks the synergies and momentum these events provide. Simulated joint operations, supported by appropriate platforms, can augment the momentum gained through in-person engagement year round, without the need for costly redeployment of forces across the Tasman.
Simulation tools are powerful capability enablers and, critically, can be conducted away from the eyes of potential adversaries or strategic competitors. Over 60 Defence organisations worldwide, including a significant proportion of member nations within the AUKUS, Five Eyes, NATO and Quad partnerships have long utilised virtual simulation technology, primarily BISim’s VBS systems, to maximise the effectiveness of conventional training.
Amid the context of deteriorating geostrategic circumstances and the increasing need for interoperability between allied nations, the New Zealand Army’s investment in powerful simulation tools and advanced training capabilities is an encouraging outcome.
As Australia implements its National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program, the funding that is allocated to areas of advanced capabilities can be meaningfully employed to equally uplift and modernise the Australian Army’s existing simulation training capabilities through the use of systems such as VBS4. And the efforts to enter into a collective approach to integrated training outcomes between the New Zealand and Australian armies opens significant opportunities for the long-standing partners to integrate their training efforts with allied armies all over the globe.
Seizing the opportunity to acquire an advanced simulation training capability such as VBS4, is in fact an opportunity for the Australian Army to deliver on the four lines of effort identified under Plan ANZAC. And more than that, greater interoperability between the ADF and NZDF would reinforce more than 100 years of the ANZAC legacy.
Ryan Stephenson is the group counsel and managing director, Australia for Bohemia Interactive Simulations. Rob Carpenter is a business development manager for Bohemia Interactive Simulations.
