New Zealand to spend $332m on upgrade of P-3K Orion aircraft

The New Zealand Ministry of Defence (MoD) is likely to spend $332.3m on the modernisation of the Royal New Zealand Air Force's (RNZAF) P-3K Orion maritime patrol aircraft.

Responding to an official information act request from Radio New Zealand, the MoD's acquisition division deputy secretary Des Ashton said the original budget for the project was $377m, but was reduced by the fluctuating exchange rates.

The P-3K Orion upgrade project was undertaken by a mixture of foreign and local contractors in Texas, US, and Blenheim, New Zealand. It covers modernisation and retrofit of a total of six P-3K Orions of the RNZAF.

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