WELLINGTON, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Two top commanders of New Zealand's military have been reappointed as the government heralds in its biggest ever defense spending program.
Minister of Defence Gerry Brownlee on Tuesday announced the reappointment of the Chief and Vice Chief of the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF), just a week after releasing a defense white paper outlining 20 billion NZ dollars (14.07 billion U.S. dollars) in military spending over the next 15 years.
"The recently released White Paper foreshadows a significant period of modernization of New Zealand's armed forces, highlighting the need for continuity of effective leadership of the Defence Force at this time," Brownlee said.
For this reason Lt. Gen. Tim Keating was being reappointed Chief of Defence until June 30, 2018, and Vice Chief of Defence, Air Vice Marshal Kevin Short, was being reappointed until March 31, 2019.
"Stability at the top means the Defence Force can continue delivering current military operations, while putting in place the right foundations to respond to tomorrow's security challenges," said Brownlee.
"The White Paper signals a range of new capabilities and priorities, including cyber and a focus on supporting New Zealand's commitments to the Antarctic region," he said.
"There is also a massive modernization of equipment and infrastructure to be built into forward planning."
Critics have questioned the amount of the proposed spending as well as the purpose, with some suggesting the new equipment could help deploy New Zealand forces further afield in support of its Australian and U.S. allies.
The white paper outlined plans to replace or enhance existing major capabilities such as the navy's two ANZAC frigates and strategic and tactical airlift capability.
The government would also invest in a littoral operations support vessel to better support sea-to-shore operations; enhanced air surveillance capability for operations at home and overseas; a cyber security support capability for the protection of defense networks, platforms and people; and additional defence intelligence personnel.
Keating assumed the role of Chief of Defence Force at the beginning of 2014 for a three-year term.
He joined the army in 1982, and had been deployed to Afghanistan as Commander of the Bamyan Provincial Reconstruction Team in 2005, and was promoted Chief of Army in February 2011.
