I figured I would start a new thread to discuss what might have happened had New Zealand acquired a fleet of perhaps two dozen fast jets around the turn of the century (perhaps the F16`s that had been originally intended for Pakistan.) For the sake of argument I am going to assume the New Zealand Government largely cut funding for the Army to pay for this and this project was done as cheaply as possible while still retaining the ability to actually deploy a modest number (say 6 to 8 ?) of air craft overseas that can actually drop bombs in missions such as the ones flown over Libya circa 2011 by NATO and have at least some ability to defend themselves against air threats.
Does New Zealand deploy them in the same way that Canada for example has deployed their F18 force in overseas attack missions ? (I am thinking that if in practice the New Zealand fast jet force didn't have a home land defense mission they could probably deploy overseas more or less the same number of air craft that Canada typically has since the turn of the century ?)
Does New Zealand decide to build a domestic air defense system post 9/11 ?
Does New Zealand dispose of them and refocus on other defense needs ? If so when might this happen ?
Does the electorate simply vote out of office at the next election cycle any government that either acquired a fleet of fast jet combat aircraft circa 2000 and or actually deployed them to fly missions such as the missions flown over Libya circa 2011 ? Would these have been likely election issues ?
I picked the Libya missions as an example of what New Zealand might have decided to do had they had the ability to do so. It appears the New Zealand government of the day seemed ok with other nations flying these types of missions.
Edit to add: I tried to post a URL to a news article outlining the support of the New Zealand Government for the allied missions over Libya circa 2011. I did not appear as I expected it would so I deleted it.
Any other thoughts ?
Does New Zealand deploy them in the same way that Canada for example has deployed their F18 force in overseas attack missions ? (I am thinking that if in practice the New Zealand fast jet force didn't have a home land defense mission they could probably deploy overseas more or less the same number of air craft that Canada typically has since the turn of the century ?)
Does New Zealand decide to build a domestic air defense system post 9/11 ?
Does New Zealand dispose of them and refocus on other defense needs ? If so when might this happen ?
Does the electorate simply vote out of office at the next election cycle any government that either acquired a fleet of fast jet combat aircraft circa 2000 and or actually deployed them to fly missions such as the missions flown over Libya circa 2011 ? Would these have been likely election issues ?
I picked the Libya missions as an example of what New Zealand might have decided to do had they had the ability to do so. It appears the New Zealand government of the day seemed ok with other nations flying these types of missions.
Edit to add: I tried to post a URL to a news article outlining the support of the New Zealand Government for the allied missions over Libya circa 2011. I did not appear as I expected it would so I deleted it.
Any other thoughts ?
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