Australia and New Zealand jointly will fortify national cyber resilience as the neighbors deepen their longtime defense alliance under a plan that envisions an “increasingly integrated, combat capable” force by 2035.
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) will provide the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) with technical support and access to the Persistent Cyber Training Environment-Unclassified, a United States Department of War-developed training and exercise platform, the NZDF announced in March 2026.
“It enhances our ability to detect, respond to, and recover from real world cyber threats across the Pacific, ensuring the NZDF remains a trusted and capable partner,” said Royal New Zealand Air Force Group Capt. Paul Drysdale, director of Information and Cyberspace Operations. “The platform scales easily to meet the NZDF’s changing needs — whether we are preparing small specialist teams or larger joint forces.”
Cyberattacks are a major concern across the Indo-Pacific and beyond, as the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence-enabled hacks and scams such as deepfakes test the resilience of government, military and civilian networks.
New Zealand’s National Cyber Security Centre reported more than 300 incidents of “potential national significance” in 2024-25, with 25% linked to suspected state-sponsored actors.
“Malicious cyber activity is becoming integral to broader global campaigns of malign behaviour, as demonstrated by the attack on international satellite infrastructure by Russia, as part of its illegal invasion of Ukraine,” according to New Zealand’s 2026-30 cybersecurity strategy. “These geopolitical issues are reaching into our own Pacific neighbourhood, including through cyber-enabled espionage and state-sponsored attacks affecting the critical systems that keep our economies and communities functioning.”
The Australian Signals Directorate received nearly 85,000 cybercrime reports in 2024-25, or about one every six minutes, with individual victims losing more than $22,000 on average.
“Cyber threats are real and immediate — targeting military networks, critical infrastructure and national resilience every day,” stated Royal Australian Navy Capt. Robert Smilie, director of Joint Cyber and Influence Projects for the ADF, which established its Cyber Command in 2024.
He said the agreement with the NZDF ensures the allies “can train, experiment and respond at pace on a common platform. … [We’re] lifting regional preparedness, accelerating content sharing and building interoperable teams ready for the fight now.”
The announcement came days after defense leaders reaffirmed the alliance, which is marking the 75th anniversary of its 1951 founding treaty. Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles and New Zealand Defence Minister Judith Collins noted that the nations’ forces first served together as the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) in 1915 during World War I.
“We share a long history grounded in democratic values, an enduring commitment to multilateralism and international law, and our collective commitment to a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region,” they stated.
Collins and Marles unveiled the ANZAC 2035 Vision, which calls for further deepening interoperability and interchangeability between the forces, including shared development and procurement of defense assets, amid “a sharply deteriorating security environment.” Priorities include force posture cooperation, combined mission planning, defense industry integration, and increased maritime security and other operations with partners across the Pacific region.
“We will be force multipliers for each other and combine our military forces in defence of our sovereignty, shared interests, and common values, and territory,” they stated.