Corvettes for Navy, not frigates: group

Press, 27 January 1986, Page 4

Corvettes for Navy, not frigates: group

Wellington reporter

The Navy should replace its frigates with corvettes which have a longer range and smaller crews and are less costly when in use, says the lobby group, Just Defence. A spokesman for Just Defence, Mr Geoff Gregory, has said that the Government should immediately suspend buying a new tanker to extend the range of the frigates.

The A.N.Z.U.S. row had shown up the unsuitability of the frigates for New Zealand’s defence purposes, he said. As had been noted in the 1983 Defence Review, frigates were intended to be part of a fleet. The American cancellation of naval exercises with New Zealand had ended this aspect of the frigate use, Mr Gregory said.

“For the only role specifically for the defence of New Zealand, namely patrol of our exclusive economic zone, they are excessively costly and lack manoeuvrability,” Mr Gregory said.

“However, the Navy’s patrol craft are too small, unseaworthy and slow to do the job,” he said. Just Defence wanted New Zealand to buy corvettes, which cost less than one-fifth of a frigate but could form an effective marine resource protection fleet and carry up-to-date missiles as well. Just Defence is a Well-ington-based group formed to promote participation in the pjiblic consultation phase of the Government’s coming defence review.