An artist's impression of the new military Maintenance Support Facility that the New Zealand government is developing at the Burnham Military Camp. (NZDF)

The New Zealand government has started development of a new facility to maintain and sustain military equipment. The proposed Maintenance Support Facility (MSF) is being constructed at the Burnham Military Camp near Christchurch on the South Island.

Marking the start of the MSF construction project, Defence Minister Andrew Little said, “This new state-of-art facility replaces Second World War-era buildings and will enable our defence force to better maintain and repair equipment.”

A spokesperson for the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) told Janes that the MSF will be operational by early 2026. “The facility will take approximately two years to complete and will be finished in the fourth quarter of 2025, with commissioning and interim operating release currently planned for the first quarter of 2026,” the spokesperson said.

The NZDF spokesperson said the MSF will be mainly focused on supporting New Zealand (NZ) Army equipment. “The New Zealand Army's equipment has become physically larger, with more technological components,” the spokesperson said.

Growth in Taiwan's defence expenditure is forecast by JDB to slow down in the next few years. JDB figures include funding for veterans' affairs and other defence funds. (Janes Defence Budgets)

Taiwan's National Defense Report 2023 has highlighted how the country is trying to learn lessons from the Ukraine-Russia war in ramping up its own multidomain and asymmetric military capabilities in preparing for any conflict with China.

The biennial policy paper – published by the Ministry of National Defense (MND) in Taipei on 12 September – also confirms short-term investment in funding for military capabilities that will enhance the sea and air combat resilience of the Republic of China (RoC) Armed Forces.

“[China] is progressively enhancing its capabilities to invade Taiwan,” the report said. “Facing this situation, the RoC Armed Forces have to absorb the lessons learned from the example of asymmetric warfare as shown in the Russia-Ukraine war, exploit geographic advantages in the form of island defence, seek suitable force buildup initiatives, and maintain combat readiness.”

The total value of notified Foreign Military Sales to Taiwan over the past five years is about USD20 billion. (US Defense Security Cooperation Agency/Janes)

The Biden administration has approved the United States' first Foreign Military Financing (FMF) package for Taiwan, a State Department official has told Janes.

The official said the FMF transfer is worth USD80 million, adding that Congress was notified of the administration's intent to supply the assistance on 29 August.

The State Department official did not disclose what military equipment will be procured through the FMF funding. The official said the funds would support Taiwan military acquisitions channelled through the US government's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) mechanism.

“The United States has provided FMS to Taiwan for decades,” the State Department official told Janes.

“FMF simply enables eligible partners to purchase US defence articles, services, and training through either FMS or, for a limited number of partners, through the foreign military financing of direct commercial contracts programme.”

The official added that the decision does not reflect any change in the US government's ‘One China' policy towards China. “We do not support Taiwan independence,” the official said.