War in space seems to be a dominant theme of the emerging World War 3 scenario. NZ is ready and willing. However, there’s sure to be repercussions.
Here’s RNZ’s news report:
New Zealand has accepted a US invitation to join a top-level group that aims to deter hostile actors in space and reduce space debris.
The US military made the invite in April to join Operation Olympic Defender, and extended it to France and Germany, too.
Minister of Defence Judith Collins said New Zealand would gain experience from sending a liaison officer to US Space Command for two years.
This “shows New Zealand’s willingness to uphold the norms of responsible behaviour in space”, she said in a statement on Thursday.
The move will bring New Zealand in line with the Five Eyes intelligence grouping as Australia, the UK and Canada are already members of Olympic Defender.
Germany and France rejected a similar invite in 2021.
This time around, France has made clear that it insists on maintaining sovereign control of its space forces.
RNZ asked Collins if New Zealand had sought a similar assurance from the Pentagon, which directs Olympic Defender.
“This role [the liaison officer] remains under the command and control of the NZDF,” Collins said.
In reports on Olympic Defender, since Space Command took it over in 2020, most of the project’s focus is on its military potential…READ THE REST: NZ joins space team: Operation Olympic Defender | RNZ News
NZ has for a long time walked a precarious tightrope between friendships. China on one side and the US on the other. When NZ went “nuclear free” it gave us a degree of neutrality, but surely, we are now well and truly in the firing line of a threat from above. Rods-from-God projectiles, laser weapons and weather-altering tech are among the nasties that hover over our heads, as we’ve demonstrated in previous articles: