Source: Radio New Zealand
Rocket trails are seen in the sky above the Israeli center coastal city of Netanya amid a fresh barrage of Iranian missile attacks. AFP / JACK GUEZ
The Gulf states’ calls for Australian military assistance shows the changing nature of weaponry, and warfare leaders on both sides of the Tasman are reckoning with it, say defence experts.
The Australian government is considering a request for help from all six Gulf states – Oman, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar – for protection against Iranian drone and missile attacks, which have targeted airports and oil infrastructure, the ABC reported.
New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said the government has not received a request for military assistance and is not considering it.
Massey University professor of International Relations Bethan Greener said Australian ministers will have to carefully weigh what counter-drone and missile protection means.
“What’s quite important about the requests is by nature they are being deemed defensive, and so the Australian government is having to weigh what that might look like, and whether or not engaging in any way in this war could potentially pull them into a more offensive action.”
Malcolm Davis, senior defence strategy analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told Nine to Noon the Gulf states’ request was a “legitimate” one.
He said the government could offer a short-range surface-to-air missile system called NASAMs, which would involve teams operating on the ground in the Gulf states.
Greener said the request showed the changing nature of warfare – the Australian government had recently become highly interested in counter-drone operations, launching a project called Land 156 in late January focused on safeguarding critical infrastructure.
“I think this conflict will be quite a telling one with regards to what kind of weaponry we are going to see, what kind of movement of troops or manoeuvre, the difference in air power crewed, or uncrewed.
“For a long time, a lot of western militaries have still clung to the model of an infantry – often a light mobile infantry, backed by artillery and armoured components – this really does change things up.”
Greener said the New Zealand government was also looking at this, with an announcement 10 days ago that the defence force would trial air, land and sea drones made from kiwi company Syos Aerospace.
“It’s quite important this year that New Zealand is looking much more seriously in to how it might utilise drones, I know that’s contentious for New Zealanders, it’s discomforting, the idea of unpeopled vessels potentially carrying ammunition – those sorts of ethical questions.”
She said it wasn’t surprising the New Zealand government had not been asked for military assistance from the Gulf states, and reflected the size of the country’s military.
Davis said governments had not taken “the counter-drone mission seriously enough”, and it was something Australia and other Western powers were now considering.
“Now we’re finding that we’re confronted with this reality, and it’s not just about Iran, it’s also about what China and Russia can do in a conflict.”
He said he expected a decision from the Australian government on military assistance early this week.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
