@@jonathanmckeage8222 are we, or because we really only deploy SAS who use allies air support and then we deploy training groups who don't need air support. I would think being surrounded by water, we need aircraft that can support the Navy.
@@kiwionarope yes but we need to be able to do things by ourselves the stuff up in Afghanistan was not just us it was the person flying the aircraft and that's why we tried to keep it quiet
The RNZAF had a mighty history over the years. Only to have its wings clipped by a power hungry woman with no interest but her own. Thanks Uncle Helen....
Nation did promise to reinstate our Strike Force. Just look at my Video off the Queen Street Protest March some time back. many thanks for your comments, Mike - AirflowNZ
Your rite in a way! I think NZ should go after the ex-R.A.A.F. F/A-18's! They are C/D models. Which like our A-4K (under the Kahu program) Skyhawks. Were upgraded too almost the same Avionics/Radar & Weapons systems as the F-16C/D. My problem is the fact that (rite after 9/11) Labour continued with this 'get ride of our 'Strike Force' Program. "we are a 'Peace Keeping' nation". So is Austria, Canada, Switzerland, Norway etc. We are the only 'Western' Nation too rely on others for Defence!
DA, our jets may be ordered from the US several hours after strike on Darwin by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force. thanks for your comment, Mike - AirflowNZ
I am an American, but instead of giving countless millions to countries that hate our guts, I would rather see the US give New Zealand a full squadron of F-16's or F-18's. I'm in :)
TD7S, many thanks for your comment. One of the best I have had in many a while! I have a video on this channel that covers the return of the American Troops to New Zealand after 50 years. It shows our fondness for the USA. Cheers, Mike - AirflowNZ
Kind of you to say. Unfortunately its a political issue, the NZ government is one of the few in the OECD to run a "surplus" for the last 8 years years straight, and has low overall debt to GDP ratio among developed nations, so its not a case of NZ can't afford it as often reported by the NZ but Australian owned media.
Usa actually offered us 28 block C F 15, and Labour PM at the time scrapped that idea too,even after a deposit was made! instead Us state dept sold them to Pakistan. A lot of our pilots went on to serve in Australia, British, and even US airforce afterwards.
@@snapdragon9300 I don't think the F16s were sold to Pakistan, despite first being built for them. What happened was the US congress stopped the sale of weapons to Pakistan after they and India carried out a series of nuclear tests in the late 90's. This left 28 F16s that had been ordered and built just sitting there with nowhere to go, so they offered them to us at a bargain price. I was looking forward to seeing them in our skies, then Labour came to power, and Helen stuck to her policy of canceling the deal saying the A4s still had life in them, then less than a year later she got rid of them too.
New Zealand should buy some new Gripen fighter jets or maybe buy some of the old F-18's from Australia. Norway has some 40 year old mid life uppdated F-16's on offer if they are interested. New Zealand has about the same population as Norway and considering the increased tensions in the region, New Zealand should consider getting some fighter jets. Love New Zealand. Visited a few times and hope to be back and see more of it. Great people !
CTA, great comment, I agree on us getting updated F-16’s, we need a strike force. Trust you can revisit here when COVID knocked out for a six! Cheers, Mike
Just viewed this video for the first time today, 6/2/18 and frankly it saddened me. I'm an old soldier and a Labour supporter, and I remember clearly when the decision was made to disband the Strike Wing. I was extremely concerned at the folly of this decision which would leave New Zealand wide open to any potential invasion on our shores. We are now left without any protection over our skies. I felt back then we had just lost our first line of defence, a force which had the ability to deal with any invasion threat many hundreds of miles away from our shoreline giving the rest of NZ Defence Force time to prepare for battle here on our homeland, not to worry, the Aussie's and the Yanks will back us if we need help, if they can. God Bless New Zealand.
I am an old soldier too and NEVER voted/supported Liebour. thus, I and others then can blame you for this and every other decision Liebour have made that has reduced this country to the state it is in today. And before you scream "national was no better" - I agree, that's why I have never supported National either. Same faeces, different sock.
Hi nztitirangi - thanks for your comment. I hope to upload the full protest march against the scrapping of the Skyhawks up Queen Street soon. regards, Mike AirflowNZ
The RNZAF should have a small air-strike capability (similar to the ADF) comprised of a small fleet of attack helicopters, armed recon drones and fighter bombers, primarily in support of ground forces. The main argument against this is that there is no strategic threat to NZ, however what about when our forces are deployed on operations? Combat Air Support is critical to success on the modern battlefield and yet NZ Army soldiers can only be transported to, from and around the battlefield without any aerial protection or significant intelligence gathering capabilities.
Random Guy No, it would be damn near impossible. For one, there is next to no political or public support for a reestablished ACF, especially since other areas of the defence force would likely suffer as a result. New Zealand at one point had some exceptional fighter pilots and rebuilding an ACF to that level again would take not only decades of work, but also exorbitant amounts of cash and political willpower, neither of which is available currently.
Thereddwarf 1 with how much New Zealand is taking in sconomically i doubt they actually have financial issues.....lets be honest here if NZ wanted f35 they could even get them
This is an awesome vid. Thanks for the upload, mate. I did 3 years in the New Zealand Air Training Corps, so this brings back a lot of great memories. Cheers again for the upload.
It is tough when you have to decide to retire the only fighters you have without replacement. But then you have to take into account a country's needs.
@andrewgraham7659 Andrew, it was a decision by a Labour Government to cancel a great deal to purchase 35 F-16’s destined to Pakistan at a bargain price. We have an obligation to support other Nations in the Pacific, no doubt the alliance we now have with NATO will have influenced our decision to lift defence spending from under1% of GDP TO NEARER 2%. Cheers, Mike
In Argentina we still have A4s (in AR modernized form but it still is an A4) that are very near the end of its life (getting parts is becoming impossible and they have 20 years of use in this modernized form). We actually are in the same situation about what to buy according to the limited budget. FA-50 has been offered and it appears a good option (I know nothing about politics here), everything else is too used and old (Mirage F1, IAI Kfir, etc)
Juan, many thanks for your comment. Both our countries should go for some older F-16`s. They are still very competitive and there must be heaps in store in the US. regards, Mike -AirflowNZ
@@AirflowNZ Exactly. But we'll probably just beg America and Australia to help like in 1942. Apparently the J-39 Grippen is a great value-for-money light fighter, but I can't see us buying that.
My Squadron, VMA-AW-224, was the first A-4 fleet Sqn. before I was born as VMA-224. It went to Vietnam and later transitioned to the A-6. I served 77-81. Many of our AirCrew and Senior SNCO's had served in the unit in that War.
New Zealand should look at the recent T-50/FA-50 (KAI/Lockheed Martin project) combination which serves a dual purpose as an interim advanced fighter trainer and a light fighter/attack aircraft (South Korea has recently put into service their first FA-50 squadron of these with Israeli avionics and armed with M61 Vulcan cannon + AIM9X Sidewinders).
Sounds like a good aircraft to be honest, but would I don't think it would have much utility from a New Zealand context. In addition to this, as New Zealand has such a small budget for defence, there is no real room for 'wishful spending', such as reinstating an ACF, when other big ticket items need to be accounted for. In saying that, once the RAAF receives its consignment of F-35's, the RNZAF might be able to buy, beg for, or downright steal the Aussies twenty-four Super Hornets. Something to hope for, at least.
I only mentioned it as the South Koreans use the T-50/FA-50 in both training and strike roles in an economical fashion. T-50 is likely to win the US TX project with Lockheed Martin as lead vendor (Advanced Interim Trainer) so there is political and technological backing behind the project that NZ can leverage off without needing to pay for the research. The RAAF retiring the older F/A-18A/B models (Classic Hornets), the newer F/A-18F SH & /EA-18G are retained in their force structure for strike and electronic jamming in conjunction with the F-35 JSF.
The Singapore Air Force wanted to use Ohakea as a permanent base for training but we didn't have adequate facilities to house their fighter jets. This would have benefited NZ because they could have worked closely with our defense force or even recruited NZ fighter pilots. I remember on exercises in the army the Skyhawks would swoop down low on our camp.
Andrew, if the Chinese continue to rattle Australia you may find we will have to upgrade our strike capability, thanks for your comment, Mike - AirflowNZ
@SanAndreasVagos I dont mean to alarm you but NZ would be fairly easy pickings either way. Even if you restored your air force to its former power with some new block 60 f-16's or Rafales it wouldnt matter. You'd be over run by force of numbers. Doesnt matter how good your pilots are ( kinda funny how every country says they have the best, right? Especialy small ones) They just wouldnt have the man power. Your only Hope would be an Australian/u.s intervention.
I remember hearing and seeing the A-4 Skyhawks in service with the RSAF in Singapore, while my dad was deployed there. Was lucky to see the tandem seater Skyhawk as well..
The day when Royal New Zealand Air Force still have a combat fighter jet. RNZAF almost got a F-16 but was cancelled , hoping that New Zealand will see the return of combat fighter jet in its Air Force some day.
75 years of service? More like 63 years of service and 12 years of disservice. The RNZAF is a disgrace to New Zealand. It shouldn't even be called RNZAF. More like RNZFC: Royal New Zealand Flying Club.
What the Luftwaffe, Japanese Imperial Army and Navy Airforces failed to do - Clark, Hodgson and Goff did - eliminate one of the best strike air wings in the world
Phil, when (if) we ever hear what the two commo leaders talked about this week we may have to take 100 surplus F16’s from the US. Seems silly that we are giving kiwis over 8k to buy a Chinese electric car which could be scrap value if these two powers get up to their tricks! Mike
I yearn for the day the Kiwi roundel is once more painted on the side of a modern strike craft. Was so sad to read how the government really brought back the RNZAF's capabilities by not only cancelling the F-16 purchase but also planning to greatly reduce the capabilities (especially in anti-submarine warfare) of the Orions with the cancellation of Project Sirius (in fact there was significant talk about scrapping the Orions altogether, as without ASW capabilities there really was no use for them. The Orion's capabilities were only saved after 9/11 and the subsequent necessity for more advanced electronics and avionics so that the Orions could be operate effectively in a coalition environment). National at the time argued that the spending going into the army - most notably in the form of the NZLAVs and the earmarking of funds for future projects - was a smokescreen while the Air Force was downgraded 'into some kind of freight service.' 20+ years on we can see how correct these comments really were
In light of what is going on in the US and the rest of the world.....it might pay to investigate the bank accounts (offshore and onshore) of all the people in Government who were involved in those decisions....both left and right. Where do their allegiances lie and why have they disarmed a potential prize, to a land strapped adversary...who wouldn't think twice about removing the population...... and repopulating with their own people.
Theres a reason out pilots were snapped up the RAAF and RAF straight away. They were extremely good. Apparantly they would often out fly the aussie f/a-18 pilots during training dogfights
Not to mention ground crew, including avionics wizards, engineering especially aero engine maintenance, and the guys who recycled and upgrade the air frames - world-renowned. And the USN and RAN who used RNZAF A4s as the best Red ‘aggressors’ in joint naval exercises to drill anti aircraft weapons systems specialist crew et al., against especially low level run attacks (the Kiwi Skyhawks speciality). Game theoretically we sank multiple Australian and American ships.
they needed to go but needed to be replaced. I don't reckon any government will make the decision to buy fighters because they'd rather keep the nzdf budget low.
Hi blindspottrs. Why not take up some F-16`s from long time storage in USA? We probably get them for next to nothing & our guys would soon get them up & running! Mike - AirflowNZ
F18F super hornet and Growlers would be better than F16. F16 Falcons have only a few years left till they are totally outdated the F18E/F super hornets will have continued upgrades till 2045
Ian, I fully agree on that. We had 31 new build on order - the US built them for Pakistan, UN canned deal so we got them cheap. Only problem a new Prime Minister scuttled our fighter squadrons! Mike 😔PS you will find a protest march and a promise from the opposition to reinstate -(they got in but never did!) on my channel.
Tell me please how many combat sorties were flown off of the Melbourne... If you fly combat ops off carriers for 10+ years you're going to have casualties you muppet.
@blacksensations 20? We have 24 Super hornets and 71 Hornets. Where did you get 20 from? We also have Tiger Helos and all kinds of support aircraft. Barrel rolls? Another stupid assumption. The Shornets are converting to Growlers when we pick up the F-35. Wtf are you even talking about? And no, the brits wouldnt get here first. With the sizable US presence in Japan and the south China sea, they'd be here long before the brits got here to honor their ANZUS obligations ( even though NZ doesnt)
@SanAndreasVagos Im sorry to burst your bubble but so is every other army. Where do you guys think you get the training from? It's not even a matter of who's best at what, its numbers. Your army man power and vehicles ect are that low its not even listed on global firepower. Countrys like nepal have more power. You have 9 .7thousand personelle total. 1455 of wich are soldiers An attacking force can bring ten times that number in the first wave, use youre brain for gods sake.
28 f16s with parts and missiles for 1.7 billion dollars was a bargain pay 50 million to get out of the deal with a penalty clause those second hand skyhawks cost a million dollars each 1970 prices
Peter, unless we can find another trade partner to take most of our exports we will just have to sit on seat and be quite to what is going North of us! Mike
What NZ need right now is a pocket fighter/lightweight fighter such as F/A 50 golden eagle,Bae Hawk 200, and coin aircraft Embraer super tucano and also CN 235 MPA for maritime patrol....
WHY NZ !! did you get rid of your Air Force!!! I’m Australian and we’re fuckjn totally upgrading ours with JSF35s along with our hornets and so on these jets here look great up grade them and keep them flying. !
Lenard, the Helen Clark Labour Government of the time said they wanted to save the $500 Mil. annual costs to run the strike force. I have a video on my Channel showing a public protest march in Auckland. The then opposition Nation Party promised to reinstate the strike force but were in for nine years and never did! We spend more keeping 20 or 30 thousand you people to sit on their bums because they do not want to work. China is buying up all our houses and soon we will have more Chinese than Maori so we will not need a defence force because we have let them all in! Bugger! Mike - AirflowNZ
Cold war bird well past it's time but with upgrades in engine's, self defense (AA,ECM & EW), radar, communications and navigation equipment it might possibly still can be a dangerous airplane in the 21st century LOL
The Skyhawks had systems upgraded which prevented their sale to other countries. I have heard they have now been retired by the private US company that used to test regular plots in more modern aircraft as they were so manouverable. Mike
I remember this aircraft and featured in a New Zealand film called Sleeping Dogs with Sam Neil! Let's hope the RNZAF can go back to the reputation when they were flying Spitfires, Hurricanes and Lancaster's. Waiting the new fighter's to come!
i actually wish new zealand had proper defence forces better equipped navy with decent frigates and an airforce with better equipment come on kiwis wakeup to th real world
What strategic importance would New Zealand pose? Well if you are looking at invading Antartica sure i could see New Zealand as being important but that would be as far as it goes. If New Zealand was to be invaded or taken over, I'm sorry to tell you, but the rest of the world would have turned to shit and there would be no point in resisting anyways!
@Antifaith29 it would be more like britain would come to our aid before the US. australian intervention? what with your 20 f-18 doing barrel rolls through the sky trying to scare an air force off. just remember you ozzies are pretty small on the whole scale of things to my friend
No Skyhawks. Also speaking of small countries, Sri Lanka is a tiny country, yet its airforce can boast a fleet of IAI Kfir C2/7s MiG-27s MiG23, F-7, C130s Mi-24 Attack helicopters, multitude of Hueys, more than 20 UAVs with a total fleet size of over 100 aircraft. (probably close to 200)... and they are a small "thrid world" country. Our (NZ) airforce would get its arse handed to it by those guys ...
Would take several billions of dollars to rebuild a few squadrons of current gen jet fighters, not going to happen, unless a rival nations airforce or surface navy did so to us.
@SanAndreasVagos HAHAH we never learn from lessons in the past mate. Just think, we the people of United States seemed to have forgotten that liberal progressives always love selling out there country.
Ask some of the owners that live in Wanaka. I recon getting rich in NZ is a major achievement in the first place compared to the rest of the world@@AirflowNZ
RU-vid the tornados over Libya they have a better ground attack than the typhoon and they cost like 65m each.. Very reliable and wud be a great asset to NZ, the RN will have its carriers by 2018/2020 I sure they'll pay you guys a visit! Love from Britain
Richard, they are spending millions of dollars on tree planting. Perhaps they are going to use the carbon credits to pay for defence? Anyhow the Chinese will appreciate the trees when they arrive! Cheers, Mike - AirflowNZ
Brian we did order some from the USA. These were A/C held back from export to Pakistan. This order was cancelled by an incoming Labour Parter lead by a Helen Clark. NZ forfeited a sizeable deposit and our future strike force capability. Thanks for your comment. regards,Mike -AirflowNZ
Apparently your govt has no more knowledge of history than the UK or even the US. We are all gonna regret gutting out airpower sooner than later. We are selling F-16Cs dirt cheap, and the isrealis are modernizing Kfirs to the C-12 with modern radar and engines pretty cheap to. Has anyone around there reminded the Kiwi govt of WW2? GREAT vid btw, Miss seeing A4s.
@airasiax Well I think the Phantom is still a reliable platform even today. Although it was really built to be a Naval attach bomber (just like the A4) it to serve in the USAF for decades before being replaced by the F-15E.
I remember that El Salvador Air Force was interested in buying between 12-15 aircraft back in 2001 but unfortunately El Salvador suffered a major earthquake that year and the adquisition was cancelled.
@@AirflowNZ On a cost saving measure it makes sense to disband as combat A/C are very expensive to operate even as in the Scooters NZ operated. When i look at it however from my profession NZ has removed a critical security component from its defence triad, the Combat Air Element is and should always be the most potent as it is serves as the major deterrent. I could be wrong however as maybe NZ hasn't revealed that it could be planning a multi layered, multi mix networked Land Based A/D system as these are very cheap in comparison, very effective and very simple in relation to operate, crew, maintain and deploy in comparison to Sqn combat A/C?
