In coordination with a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Poseidon and two United States Navy Poseidons, the New Zealand aircraft and crew from No. 5 Squadron successfully detected, identified and fired two AGM-84 Harpoon guided missiles at a decommissioned target ship, with both missiles hitting the target.
It was part of multi-domain Exercise Valiant Shield involving aircraft, ships and submarines from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States.
The live-fire exercise used weapons fired from the air, surface vessels and submarines to sink the ship.
“This exercise marked a significant step forward for the RNZAF with the first successful launch of air-to-surface missiles by our P-8A,” Air Component Commander, Air Commodore Andy Scott said.
In coordination with a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Poseidon and two United States Navy Poseidons, the New Zealand aircraft and crew from No. 5 Squadron successfully detected, identified and fired two AGM-84 Harpoon guided missiles at a decommissioned target ship, with both missiles hitting the target.
It was part of multi-domain Exercise Valiant Shield involving aircraft, ships and submarines from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States.
The live-fire exercise used weapons fired from the air, surface vessels and submarines to sink the ship.
“This exercise marked a significant step forward for the RNZAF with the first successful launch of air-to-surface missiles by our P-8A,” Air Component Commander, Air Commodore Andy Scott said.
The P-8A Poseidon can be armed with Harpoon anti-ship guided missiles, used to strike ships accurately from at least 100 kilometres away. The successful firing of the missiles, supplied by the Australian Defence Force, demonstrates the fleet’s utility as a strike capability against surface targets.