Orion adventureOrion adventureOrion adventure
were joined by an ex-Royal Australian Air
Force P-3B (NZ2406) in the mid-1980s.
The current P-3K2 variant arrived with
No 5 Squadron in May 2011 with the
re-delivery of NZ2404, and the remainder
had followed by July 2014. At the same
time, the Maritime Patrol Force (MPF) was
renamed the Air Surveillance and Response
Force (ARSF) to better reflect its mission,
which now includes an overland element
including support to special forces.Roles and hours
The roles of the ARSF are maritime
surveillance, maritime reconnaissance,
overland reconnaissance, Exclusive Economic
Zone (EEZ) patrols, ASW, anti-surface unit
warfare (ASuW), and search and rescue
(SAR). At 1,500,000 sq miles (4,000,000km^2 ),
New Zealand’s EEZ is the fourth largest in
the world. New Zealand is also responsible
for NAVAREA XIV, the largest area of SAR
responsibility in the world, stretching from
the equator to the South Pole and from
halfway to Australia to halfway to South
America, an area covering approximately
12.5% of the world’s water surface.
The ASRF flies about 2,000 hours annually,
approximately 250 of them on surveillance
patrols in the Southwest Pacific and more than
200 hours in New Zealand’s EEZ. Another
170 hours are allocated to SAR and 24 to
humanitarian assistance and disaster relief
(HADR) missions. The remainder is used
on training, exercises and transits, including
international deployments. Whether the SAR
hours are used or exceeded naturally varies
with demand. In the summer, No 5 Squadron
can be called out twice a month on a SAR
mission, which might last several days. The
RNZAF’s contribution to the search for
Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 in the Indian
Ocean in February/March 2014 involved 270
Orion hours and made a significant dent in
the allocated SAR budget for that year.Future capabilities
The New Zealand government has begun
the process to “replace and enhance” the
Orions’ capabilities by the middle of the
next decade under the banner of the FASC.
This may take the form of one or more
manned platforms or a mix of manned and
unmanned aircraft “to maintain awareness
within New Zealand’s maritime zone”,
according to the New Zealand Defence
Force’s (NZDF’s) 2016 Development Plan.Right: The heart of the P-3K2 is
the Tactical Rail, or TacRail, with
fi ve interchangeable workstations.
Information from the Elta EL/M-
2022A(V)3 imaging radar, MX-20 EO/
IR turret and Rockwell Collins CS-3045
electronic support measures (ESM) is
distributed via the L-3/IS Integrated
Data Handling System. RNZAF#358 JANUARY 2018 // 93