Defence Minister Judith Collins endorses Trump's Golden Dome amid contract frenzy
Photo:
AFP / RNZ
US President Donald Trump's Golden Dome missile defence project has won endorsement from New Zealand.
The vision is of a vast shield of sensors, missiles and even laser beams designed to take out conventional and nuclear missiles.
Critics of the proposed system say it may fuel an arms race in space, and China and Russia have condemned it.
But Defence Minister Judith Collins told a security summit in Singapore it was justified.
"It's a defence mechanism," she said during a panel on cyber, space and undersea challenges.
"I don't see it as an attack mechanism. It's a defence mechanism.
"And if people did not feel they needed to defend themselves, they wouldn't waste the money on it."
The chorus of major defence contractors signalling their readiness to work on the Golden Dome has been growing, joined recently by New Zealand-founded and California-based company Rocket Lab.
Rocket Lab used a $460 million acquisition of the parent company of
Arizona firm Geost
, to state how the deal secured "core capabilities" for achieving Pentagon goals in space, "like the proposed Golden Dome".
Prime (major) contractor
Lockheed Martin said on its website
: "This next generation defence shield will identify incoming projectiles, calculate trajectory and deploy interceptor missiles to destroy them mid-flight, safeguarding the homeland and projecting American Strength [sic]."
SpaceX, controversial software innovator Palantir and drone-maker Anduril also feature in media reports and speculation about the Dome.
Trump has said it would be operational by the end of his term and over the next decade cost $300 billion, but many analysts doubt the timing, while the Congressional Budget Office has estimated it could cost as much as $1.4 trillion over two decades.
Lockheed called it "a Manhattan Project-scale mission".
Minister Collins told the Shangri-La Dialogue that taxpayers' money was hard-fought for.
"Let me tell you, we are defence ministers, we know how that feels, we have to go in every day and try to get more money.
"And we're not going to do it unless there's some reason to do it. So you know, don't be aggressive in space, we won't need Golden Dome or any other sort of dome."
Collins told the summit New Zealand's proportion of defence spending on emerging technology would grow, noting that tech made in New Zealand was being used in the Ukraine war.
"We are going to be using some of that," she said.
Tauranga company Syos makes drones that have been used in Ukraine.
China, Russia and North Korea have all condemned Trump's revival of a high-tech form of the Ronald-Reagan era Star Wars missile defence plan, 400 times larger than Israel's Iron Dome.
Despite this and critics' fears,
defence and high-tech military-linked contractors
have begun jockeying for action.
"Everyone Wants a Piece of Trump's 'Golden Dome' Defense Plan," a
Wall Street Journal headline
said.
Reuters has
reported that Elon Musk's SpaceX
- the most prolific satellite launcher ever - was in partnership with two tech firms that had been muscling into the defence industry to become Golden Dome frontrunners.
The
Times of India asked
if the Dome was a shield for the US "or just to make Elon Musk richer?"
One of Musk's reported partners is Anduril, a supercharged start-up that has plans for a billion-dollar military drone factory, and the other is New Zealand citizen Peter Thiel's software firm Palantir.
The US Army recently tested a
Palantir system called Maven
for rapid targeting, saying it allowed a 20-person unit to do more than a 2000-strong unit was able to target during the 2003 Iraq war.
The track record with the US Army had
boosted Palantir
, market analysts said.
Smart targeting
is envisaged as part of Golden Dome, with the Pentagon saying that by 2029 it would deploy smart sensors in space that can distinguish missile threats from clutter.
Canada's Globe and Mail reported a range of
stocks were benefiting
from Trump's talk of the Golden Dome, noting that Palantir was now worth more than Lockheed Martin.
The SpaceX link-up with tech firms reported by Reuters, is a challenge to the entrenched defence industry players like Lockheed, Northrop Grumman, Boeing and RTX (Raytheon), though these "primes" do figure in an Act introduced in February to enable Golden Dome, alongside a
Trump executive order
.
Rocket Lab said in its media release citing the Golden Dome it was "positioning itself as disruptive prime to US national security".
The Street financial news site said the Geost deal put the company that launches out of both Mahia and Virginia, "firmly in the national security conversation".
America's
Defence Intelligence Agency
in mid-May profiled the forecast missile threat across six categories, including two hypersonics and two types of nuclear ballistic missiles.
The
Chatham House thinktank
said the Golden Dome might suck resources from regional missile defence and cyber resilience, to go into unproven shield technology.
"The plan also has potentially dangerous strategic consequences," it said.
"A system that aspires to make the US invulnerable to missile attack would almost certainly be seen by its adversaries as an attempt to undermine the logic of nuclear deterrence. If Washington is perceived to be developing a shield that could one day neutralise a retaliatory nuclear strike, it risks triggering a dangerous global arms race."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
10 hours ago
- RNZ News
ACT sets out plan to party faithful: "Keep the government and make it better"
ACT is holding their annual rally in Auckland on Sunday. Shown: ACT leader David Seymour at the 2023 party rally. Photo: RNZ / Mohammad Alafeshat ACT has unveiled its pitch to lure a new supermarket player into New Zealand through a new fast-track approval process. It's part of the party's bid to focus on "problem solving" rather than "finger-pointing" as it looks toward the next election, to "keep the government" and make it "better". Leader David Seymour made the announcement at the party's annual rally on Sunday, in Auckland, where it considered its half-time "report card" of its performance in government . Seymour outlined the party's wins through the past year and a half - including in efforts on law and order and reducing co-governance - while signalling to the campaign ahead and the voters he wanted to claim. A key focus of Seymour's speech were the voters who he said had been treated as a "scapegoat" by the previous government. He suggested Labour chose landlords as a scapegoat for the issue of high rents. He said Labour did this because of "politics." "There are three million voters and only 120,000 are landlords so there's 23 other voters per landlord. They say the most important skill in politics is the ability to count." Along with landlords, Seymour said firearm owners, farmers and employers were affected by policies Labour put in place, as well as groups of people he said Labour had left out in the cold. "Blaming someone might feel good. We think that building something feels better," he said. "Whether you rent or own, farm or teach, build or tend, your future depends on solving the same problems, not blaming different people." His coalition partners weren't left unscathed tough, as he pointed to efforts to target big corporations as a way of making things easier for New Zealand, and targeting the cost of living. "You can understand people wanting to go after the banks or the supermarkets or the power companies. "It would be the easiest thing in the world for me to give a speech saying they're crooked and need to be punished somehow. "They should be taxed somehow, have their businesses broken up, or be watched over by even toothier watchdogs. It's the curse of zero sum thinking." His solution to the "biggest challenge we face" - the cost of living - was to loosen up what Seymour called "outdated planning and consenting rules", which were the biggest barriers to international supermarket players setting up shop in the country. "With the cost of living, the solution is not regulation but competition. Business should fear competition, not their own government." A new ACT party proposal - rather than government policy - would introduce a fast-track approval process that would streamline rezoning, consenting and investment approvals to build new supermarkets at scale. Seymour said this would allow new entrants or smaller grocers to get approval within months, not years. There was no mention in the speech of a specific player who had shown interest in setting up in New Zealand, but Seymour said he hoped it would bring a "serious extra chain to retail in New Zealand.' "Even if it doesn't, just the possibility of a new competitor can help keep competitive pressure on the incumbents," he said. "If it doesn't work, we'll know that either our market is more competitive than we thought, or we have some other problem." Ultimately, he told the audience, "if you're looking for finger pointing, don't look here. We are interested in problem solving." "If you want to find a scapegoat, you can, but it still won't work. We tried it with landlords, we tried it with oil and gas, we tried it with farmers, employers, and licensed firearm owners. "Every time government goes after a group in society, the problem gets worse." As part of his speech he also acknowledged the failure of the Treaty Principles Bill to pass into law. "Our partners abandoned us defining the Treaty Principles, so we lost the vote. "That's a shame, but there's something more important than winning the vote. We won the argument." It's a key policy that differentiates ACT from its coalition partners, and the party has indicated it will continue to try and pass it in some form. "It is now a matter of time before the Treaty Principles Bill or something like it passes," Seymour told the gathering. At the half-way mark of this term in government, Seymour said the party's focus from here would be "campaigning to keep the government and keep making it better." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
10 hours ago
- RNZ News
Peeni Henare to contest Tāmaki Makaurau by-election for Labour
Labour MP Peeni Henare. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Labour MP Peeni Henare has been confirmed as his party's candidate for the Tamaki Makaurau by-election. The by-election was sparked by the death of Te Pati Maori MP Takutai Moana Natasha Kemp last month. Henare previously held the Tāmaki Makaurau seat, before being beaten by Kemp in the 2023 election by a majority of just four votes over Henare in 2023, with a recount widening the margin. Henare had held the seat since 2014. "I am humbled and honoured to be selected to represent Labour in the upcoming by-election," Henare said. He said jobs, access to quality and affordable health services, affordable housing and relief from the rising cost of living were a top priority. "Tāmaki Makaurau is where I was born and is my home. I know the challenges that many whānau are facing. The cost of living is putting significant pressure on whānau just to put kai on the table," Henare said. "My focus is clear. To fight for real solutions so our people can flourish. "This means better paying jobs, making sure that when whānau are sick, they don't need to choose between kai and seeing the doctor and it means getting more whānau into warm dry and safe homes." Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Henare is the leader Tāmaki Makaurau needs. "He has the experience and track record to deliver real solutions for working families, rangatahi, kaumātua and our most vulnerable whānau," Hipkins said. Former Newshub broadcaster Oriini Kaipara has been chosen to contest the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election for Te Pāti Māori. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is yet to announce the date for a by-election. However, the Speaker of the House published the notice of vacancy in the Gazette on Wednesday, meaning the Governor-General will issue a writ within 21 days of 9 July, instructing the Chief Electoral Officer to conduct the by-election. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
12 hours ago
- RNZ News
NZ's new AI strategy is long on 'economic opportunity' but short on managing ethical and social risk
By By Andrew Lensen* of Photo: Supplied/Callaghan Innovation The government's newly unveiled National AI Strategy is all about what its title said: "Investing with Confidence". It tells businesses that Aotearoa New Zealand is open for AI use, and that our "light touch" approach won't get in their way. The question now is whether the claims made for AI by Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology Shane Reti - that it will help boost productivity and enable the economy to grow by billions of dollars - can be justified. Generative AI - the kind powering ChatGPT, CoPilot, and Google's video generator Veo 3 - is certainly earning money. In its latest funding round in April, OpenAI was valued at US$300 billion . Nvidia, which makes the hardware that powers AI technology, just became the first publicly traded company to surpass a $4 trillion market valuation . It'd be great if New Zealand could get a slice of that pie. New Zealand doesn't have the capacity to build new generative AI systems, however. That takes tens of thousands of NVIDIA's chips, costing many millions of dollars that only big tech companies or large nation states can afford. What New Zealand can do is build new systems and services around these models, either by fine-tuning them or using them as part of a bigger software system or service. The government isn't offering any new money to help companies do this. Its AI strategy is about reducing barriers, providing regulatory guidance, building capacity, and ensuring adaptation happens responsibly. But there aren't many barriers to begin with. The regulatory guidance contained in the strategy essentially said "we won't regulate". Existing laws are said to be "technology-neutral" and therefore sufficient. As for building capacity, the country's tertiary sector is more under-funded than ever, with universities cutting courses and staff. Humanities research into AI ethics is also ineligible for government funding as it doesn't contribute to economic growth. The issue of responsible adoption is perhaps of most concern. The 42-page " Responsible AI Guidance for Businesses " document, released alongside the strategy, contains useful material on issues such as detecting bias, measuring model accuracy, and human oversight. But it is just that - guidance - and entirely voluntary. This puts New Zealand among the most relaxed nations when it comes to AI regulation, along with Japan and Singapore . At the other end is the European Union, which enacted its comprehensive AI Act in 2024, and has stood fast against lobbying to delay legislative rollout. The relaxed approach is interesting in light of New Zealand being ranked third-to-last out of 47 countries in a recent survey of trust in AI . In another survey from last year, 66 percent of New Zealanders reported being nervous about the impacts of AI . Some of the nervousness can be explained by AI being a new technology with well documented examples of inappropriate use, intentional or not. Deepfakes as a form of cyberbullying have become a major concern. Even the ACT Party, not generally in favour of more regulation, wants to criminalise the creation and sharing of non-consensual, sexually explicit deepfakes. Generative image, video, and music creation is reducing the demand for creative workers, even though it is their very work that was used to train the AI models. But there are other, more subtle issues, too. AI systems learn from data. If that data is biased, then those systems will learn to be biased, too. New Zealanders are right to be anxious about the prospect of private sector companies denying them jobs, entry to supermarkets , or a bank loan because of something in their pasts. Because modern deep learning models are so complex and impenetrable, it can be impossible to determine how an AI system made a decision. And what of the potential for AI to be used online to mislead voters and discredit the democratic process, as the New York Times has reported, may have occurred already in at least 50 cases. The strategy is essentially silent on all of these issues. It also doesn't mention Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi. Even Google's AI summary tells me this is the nation's founding document, laying the groundwork for Māori and the Crown to coexist. AI, like any data-driven system, has the potential to disproportionately disadvantage Māori if it involves systems from overseas designed (and trained) for other populations. Allowing these systems to be imported and deployed in Aotearoa New Zealand in sensitive applications - healthcare or justice, for example - without any regulation or oversight risks worsening inequalities even further. What's the alternative? The EU offers some useful answers. It has taken the approach of categorising AI uses based on risk : This feels like a mature approach New Zealand might emulate. It wouldn't stymie productivity much - unless companies were doing something risky. In which case, the 66 percent of New Zealanders who are nervous about AI might well agree it's worth slowing down and getting it right. Andrew Lensen is a Senior Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington -This story was originally published on The Conversation.
