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Lockheed Martin Australia and New Zealand has congratulated the Royal New Zealand Navy on the arrival of HMNZS Te Kaha in Devonport, New Zealand, following modernisation upgrades undertaken in British Columbia, Canada by Lockheed Martin Canada.
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As the prime systems integrator, Lockheed Martin Canada was responsible for integrating the upgraded systems on two ANZAC Class Frigates. HMNZS Te Kaha was equipped with Lockheed Martin Canada’s CMS 330 combat management system, as well as a new suite of sensors and weapons, providing the ship’s crew with superior capabilities and advanced protection for a variety of modern naval operations.
Sarah Minson, Project Director, New Zealand Ministry of Defence said, "The arrival of HMNZS Te Kaha after her combat system upgrade is a significant milestone for the Royal New Zealand Navy. It is hugely satisfying to see Te Kaha sail into the beautiful
Waitematā harbour in time for Christmas. This has been a complex project, with many challenges - including a global pandemic. The New Zealand and Lockheed Martin Canada teams have worked very closely together to get to this point."
On congratulating the Royal New Zealand Navy on this achievement, Graham Lintott, Managing Director for Lockheed Martin New Zealand stated “Lockheed Martin has been an enduring presence in New Zealand for over 50 years, with the C-130 and P3 aircraft have been flown by the Royal New Zealand Air Force for decades, and with the current focus of our New Zealand workforce primarily focused on delivering sustainment capability to the New Zealand Defence Force and NZ Police.”
HMNZS Te Kaha is the Royal New Zealand Navy's first of two Anzac class frigates, built in Australia to the German MEKO 200 design.
Te Kaha is designed to fight and evade enemies and take battle damage. Her primary mission is to ensure the security and prosperity of New Zealand by undertaking maritime security patrols and surveillance operations to protect sea lines of communication or trade routes.
The two Anzac class frigates, HMNZS Te Kaha and HMNZS Te Mana are the main fighting ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy and play a vital role in protecting New Zealand, its exports, maritime resources and those of allies.
Frigates are the smallest type of warship capable of prolonged independent and sustained operations, including:
- Working with allies in regional and global security;
- Conducting patrols in Antarctica for vessels engaged in illegal fishing;
- Participating in joint training exercises with other navies on the tactical levels of warfare;
- Participating in UN peacekeeping missions;
- Search and rescue missions; and
- Anzac frigates can combat simultaneous threats from air, surface and sub-surface. This makes these ships a vital component in maintaining regional security.
The Anzac frigates have a complement of 178 naval personnel, Te kaha is part of New Zealand’s national security system, and works with other agencies to protect and advance New Zealand’s national security interests.
The Frigate Systems Upgrade (FSU) project was identified in the 2010 Defence White Paper as necessary to maintain the frigates' combat capability until the end of their service life.
The Anzac FSU project is currently upgrading the surveillance, combat and self-defence capabilities of the ANZAC frigates to match current and future threats and address obsolescence of some of the current systems. This will include a new combat management system, new radars, electronic detection and other above water sensors, the self-defence missile system, decoys against missiles and torpedoes, and an upgrade to the hull-mounted sonar.
