In the heart of Queenstown, New Zealand, on August 9, 2025, the leaders of New Zealand and Australia sat down for their second annual bilateral meeting, but this year’s gathering felt anything but routine. With the hum of global tensions just beneath the surface, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of New Zealand and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia faced a rapidly shifting security landscape in their own backyard—one shaped by extraordinary military maneuvers and unprecedented technological collaboration.
The meeting came on the heels of a Chinese naval flotilla’s live-fire exercise in the Tasman Sea back in February, an event that startled both nations. According to the Associated Press, this rare foray by the Chinese navy so far south forced commercial airlines to divert their flights, underscoring the seriousness of the situation. The mission, which partially circumnavigated Australia, was widely interpreted as a demonstration of China’s expanding military reach and ambitions in the Pacific.
Prime Minister Luxon did not mince words about the need for closer military cooperation. “A big focus for us has been interoperability with Australia. We want to be a force multiplier,” he told reporters, emphasizing the goal of forming a unified, essential Anzac force in the region—a nod to the storied Australian and New Zealand Army Corps that first fought together in World War I. Albanese echoed the urgency, stating, “If people argue that we should increase our defense spending, we are.”
The backdrop for these talks wasn’t just the Chinese naval exercise. Australia and New Zealand both acknowledged, in a joint statement, that they face “the most unpredictable and dangerous strategic environment in decades.” Their alliance, they agreed, plays a critical role in protecting shared interests across Oceania and beyond.
Yet, the conversation with China is far from simple. Albanese recounted his recent complaint to Chinese President Xi Jinping during a July state visit to Beijing, expressing frustration at the lack of advance notice for the Chinese live-fire exercise. Xi, in turn, pointed to Australia’s own military activities in the disputed South China Sea—an exchange that highlighted the complex web of military posturing and diplomatic engagement in the region.
Luxon was candid about the nature of the relationship with China, which remains the most important trading partner for both Australia and New Zealand. “China’s an important world power. It’s important that we can engage,” Luxon said. He continued, “We genuinely are able to have a conversation—I think a very mature one now—to say, look, we do have very different histories, we do have different systems, we do have different values, that does mean we do have differences. Good partners should be not afraid to talk about those things.”
But talk alone isn’t enough. In April, Luxon announced a plan to double New Zealand’s defense spending to more than 2% of GDP, a significant jump from the roughly 1% maintained over the past two decades. “A big step up for us,” he called it. It’s a move that signals New Zealand’s determination to match Australia’s own ramp-up in military investment.
Australia, for its part, is in the midst of its largest defense expansion ever. This week, the government announced a $6.5 billion contract with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to build a fleet of 11 naval frigates, a clear sign of deepening strategic ties with Tokyo. Just one day before the Queenstown summit, Japanese warships docked in New Zealand for the first time in nearly 90 years—a symbolic gesture that didn’t go unnoticed by regional observers.
Perhaps most eye-catching is Australia’s submarine deal under the AUKUS trilateral partnership with the United States and Britain. The plan: acquire eight nuclear-powered submarines powered by U.S. technology, at a projected cost of up to $245 billion. The deal, which has drawn both praise and criticism at home and abroad, is emblematic of the region’s pivot toward greater self-reliance and technological sophistication in defense.
These moves come at a time when the United States, under President Donald Trump, has repeatedly urged allies to boost their own defense budgets and rely less on U.S. military might for their security. Albanese’s public remarks—“If people argue that we should increase our defense spending, we are”—seemed tailored not just for domestic audiences, but for Washington as well.
Against this tense backdrop, the spirit of joint innovation and rapid response was on full display during Exercise Talisman Sabre in July 2025. In a story first reported by DVIDS, the U.S. Army conducted its first live-fire of the Typhon missile system outside the continental United States, launching an SM-6 missile at a maritime target in Australia. But before the real missile took flight, Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 30 of the U.S. Navy ran a silent rehearsal, turning a modified KC-130T Hercules into a “fake missile” to test ground systems’ ability to track and communicate.
“We turned the plane into a fake missile,” said Nathan Stock, platform coordinator for VX-30. “They tracked us like they would track the actual missile.” This surrogate flight provided critical trajectory data, enabling the Army’s successful live launch days later. The operation was made possible by the Satellite Communications Range Extension Aircraft Modification (SCREAM) system, installed in 2024, which used Starlink to provide real-time telemetry over vast distances.
“SCREAM proved its value in a real-world environment,” said Capt. David Halpern, commodore of Naval Test Wing Pacific. “It gave the Army a direct link to their surrogate missile across terrain that otherwise would’ve gone dark. That’s the kind of flexible capability we need in contested environments.”
VX-30’s engineers designed custom adapter plates for the aircraft, using 3D-printed prototypes to ensure a perfect fit before machining the final parts. “Modifying the primary structure isn’t something we take lightly,” Stock explained. “This one was actually pretty unique. It used two adapter plates stacked together to match the hole patterns on the skin and the antenna. It had to survive long-range flight over open ocean with no margin for error.”
The entire process—from mission request to execution—took less than three months. “We only started doing our own aircraft mods last summer with the first Starlink integration,” said Lt. Cmdr. McKenna Cox, who led the VX-30 detachment in Australia. “Since then, we’ve built the capability to take these requests and deliver.”
Cmdr. Barry Carmody, VX-30’s commanding officer, summed up the value of the operation: “This mission showcased our aircrew and engineers’ ability to rapidly understand, plan, and execute test requirements, all while maintaining sharp focus on warfighting capability.”
As the region’s security environment grows ever more complex, the events of this summer—from Chinese naval exercises to rapid-fire missile launches and historic defense deals—highlight a new era of military collaboration and innovation. For Australia and New Zealand, the message is clear: in a world where the rules are changing fast, only those who adapt together will shape the future.
