The New Zealand Defence Force is one step closer to acquiring lethal drones, as a trial begins for an Australian-made loitering munition being battle tested in Ukraine.
If adopted by New Zealand forces, the weapon system could enable soldiers to engage enemies from a distance without exposing themselves to hostile fire.
A loitering munition, or kamikaze drone, has the ability to hover above a target until it is ordered to destroy itself in a suicide attack.
They have featured prominently in the Ukraine war, where they have been used by both sides in the conflict — including by Ukrainian forces to attack Russian tanks.
Army joint fire capability manager Major Oliver Lynn told the Otago Daily Times loitering munitions had been tracked by the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) for several years.
In the coming months a joint trial between the Army and Navy will start experimenting with the Drone 40 — a small loitering munition produced by DefendTex, an Australian company, Maj Lynn said.
The D40 is can operate with an interchangeable payload.
Equipped with a camera system it functions as a reconnaissance drone, and with an explosive warhead it works as a loitering munition.
Trials would use inert configurations of the drones, although the weaponised versions could be tried later in the year if initial tests are successful.
It was not yet clear where the munition might fit in the NZDF armoury, but the trial would help figure that out.
‘‘We want to start small with this experimentation,’’ Maj Lynn said.
For instance, it could be potentially operated by soldiers at a platoon level or it could also stay with specialised units like artillery.
The system would allow targets to be engaged with precision, which would reduce collateral damage. Unlike with traditional munitions an attack could be aborted, up until last few seconds before impact.
The system could also be deployed from cover which would mean soldiers could engage enemies without putting themselves in danger.
‘‘We're constantly looking at capabilities that can help improve our effectiveness as a defence force,’’ Maj Lynn said.
Ultimately the capability — whether the D40 or another type of loitering munition — might be added to the NZDF arsenal, but no decisions had been made yet.
It was important to note the system could not engage a target without human control.
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‘‘It’s not autonomous — the human is in control of it at all times,’’ Maj Lynn said of the D40.
NZDF joint experimentation manager land Hayden Robinson said many drones already in use were geared towards surveillance and the experiment would help understand forces understand how loitering munitions fit with the current fleet.
New Zealand did not at present have any armed drones, Mr Robinson said.
Loitering munitions have widely been used in the war in Ukraine, although they first came to the fore in the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2020, Mr Robinson said.
The Armenians had been equipped with Soviet-era equipment and doctrine, while Azerbaijan had modern drones from Turkey and Israeli which gave them a decisive advantage.
A static display of the D40 at Exercise Tororiki last year had generated a lot of interest in the trial and troops could expect to have much more exposure to the system over the coming year, Mr Robinson said.
The system would be controlled via an off the shelf controller, likely a smartphone or tablet loaded with the manufacturer’s software, he said.
Kamikaze drone: the Defendtex D40
- Weighs 190g-300g depending on payload and is about 12cm long.
- Has a range of 15km-20km and can fly for up to an hour.
- Can be fitted with a surveillance and reconnaissance camera or explosives.
- Can be launched by hand or from a long-barrel 40mm grenade launcher.
- More than 300 supplied to Ukraine’s military in August.
