The four-week deployment will see the aircraft and crew carrying out airborne surveillance of the waters around East Asia to capture evidence of ship-to-ship transfers of resources used for the North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

The deployment supports the Pacific Security Maritime Exchange (PSMX), a multinational coalition formed in 2018 to monitor United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions. Naval vessels, maritime patrol aircraft and staff officers are deployed by the coalition nations and coordinated by the Enforcement Coordination Cell based in Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan.

Commander Joint Forces New Zealand Major General Rob Krushka says the New Zealand Defence Force contribution is an important one. 

“New Zealand is committed to maintaining regional peace and security by upholding the rules based international system, and the UNSC sanctions are the international community’s best way of encouraging North Korea to denuclearise and return to diplomacy. 

“Our maritime patrol aircraft and ships have been part of this multinational effort to monitor the sanctions since 2018, and there will be further deployments of our assets to support the operation later this year.”