Plan ANZAC<\/p>\n
This ambition is reflected in Plan ANZAC, a bilateral agreement between the two Australasian armies. This plan was renewed on July 10, when the two army chiefs signed an updated agreement.<\/p>\n
Maj. Gen. Rose King, New Zealand\u2019s Chief of Army, told Defense News that the relationship with Australia \u201cis really important.\u201d<\/p>\n
In \u201cevery iteration with Plan ANZAC, we\u2019re getting stronger and more aligned. It\u2019s how we work together and can be interoperable and interchangeable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Building on more than 100 years of past shared experience and service, Plan ANZAC is designed to support the two nations training, deploying and operating together more effectively.<\/p>\n
Forging a battle group<\/p>\n
The critical part of Exercise Hill 60 was putting a Motorised Infantry Battle Group \u2013 or MIBG \u2013 through its paces. The MIBG equates to around 1,000 Kiwi soldiers, which is a sizable chunk of the army\u2019s 4,358 active-duty personnel.<\/p>\n
Lt. Col. Caleb Berry, commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, explained to Defense News: \u201cThe army\u2019s land combat output is the Motorised Infantry Battle Group. That\u2019s our contribution to a coalition, or our ability to operate by ourselves in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
During Exercise Hill 60, the MIBG tested its ability to perform as a cohesive and decisive unit under the tempo and pressure of battle.<\/p>\n
Brig. Jason Dyhrberg, the army\u2019s Land Component Commander, emphasized the importance of maturing the formation ahead of deploying it to Australia for next year\u2019s Talisman Sabre exercise.<\/p>\n
Indeed, this will be the very first overseas deployment of the MIBG.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us, that\u2019s an incredible contribution within a large-scale divisional construct,\u201d Dyhrberg noted. \u201cIt\u2019s highly valued by our Australian ally because they\u2019re also very busy. They also have, despite their significant scale compared to us, staffing and equipment shortfalls. So, us being able to provide a capable, well-trained battle group into the organization does add considerable value.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2ZTAFW5IQ5GP3IE3MJHXONN5J4.JPG\")
The heart of the New Zealand Army\u2019s Motorised Infantry Battle Group is the NZLAV vehicle, manufactured by General Dynamics in Canada. (Gordon Arthur\/staff)<\/p>\n
Lt. Col. Berry said New Zealand\u2019s MIBG is closely associated with Australia\u2019s Brisbane-based 7th Brigade. The latter unit\u2019s commander had attended Hill 60 to see Kiwi troops in action.<\/p>\n
This affinity is due to the 7th Brigade\u2019s particular focus on the Pacific region east and north of Australia, where New Zealand also has interests.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s two other brigades \u2013 the Darwin-based 1st Brigade and Townsville-based 3rd Brigade \u2013 focus on the littorals north of Australia and mechanized warfare, respectively.<\/p>\n
The New Zealand Army has previously integrated with Australia\u2019s 7th Brigade at the combat team level, but Talisman Sabre 2027 will be a true test of doing this at the battle group level.<\/p>\n
Common equipment, quality training<\/p>\n
During the Hill 60 exercise in the central North Island, NZLAV and Bushmaster protected vehicles helped transport troops around the battlefield. The new Bushmasters, operated in the hundreds by the Australian Army, are a reminder how the New Zealand Defence Force is aligning with Australia on an equipment level where feasible.<\/p>\n
The Defence Capability Plan, issued in April 2025, explicitly stated: \u201cNew Zealand will seek to procure the same assets and equipment as Australia where it makes sense to do so. This will help with interoperability.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the NZ Army eyes future procurements such as long-range fires to replace its L119 105mm towed howitzers, systems like the HIMARS are likely to be in the frame as a contender.<\/p>\n
Also reflecting the strong ties between the Antipodean neighbors, the New Zealand Army has adopted Australian training schemes. <\/p>\n
For example, troops have been conducting a mortar course in Australia. Elsewhere, Australian instructors recently helped Kiwi soldiers run a three-week course on first-person-view drones.<\/p>\n
Maj. Gen. King praised the aptitude of Kiwi soldiers, even if they are not as richly equipped as their counterparts in Australia and the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things that gets told to us every time we travel is just the caliber of our people,\u201d she said. \u201cWe train, we invest a lot in our people, because we\u2019re small and we need to understand bigger constructs. Our people deliver wherever they go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dyhrberg acknowledged New Zealand is unable replicate larger formations. However, \u201cWhat we can do is produce those well-trained officers that can integrate into an Australian brigade headquarters or an American divisional headquarters, which we do quite regularly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Gordon Arthur is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. After a 20-year stint working in Hong Kong, he now resides in New Zealand. He has attended military exercises and defense exhibitions in about 20 countries around the Asia-Pacific region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WAIOURU, New Zealand \u2014 The whump of exploding 105 mm artillery rounds reverberate across the \u201cbattlefield\u201d as Kiwi…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8227,85,17492,17494,17491,3248,288497,104072,111,43,139,69,8812],"class_list":["post-586014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-army","tag-australia","tag-circulated-defense-news","tag-defense-news","tag-dn-dnr","tag-exercise","tag-himars","tag-maneuver","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}