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Project Protector was a Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) procurement project that was undertaken during the 2000s. At the start of the decade, the New Zealand government tasked the New Zealand Defence Force to develop an equal combat, peacekeeping, and disaster relief capability, in which the RNZN was to focus on conducting sealift operations and patrols of the Economic Exclusion Zone. A series of reviews found that the RNZN was lacking in these capabilities, and Project Protector was established to acquire three new ship types: a single multi-role sealift ship, two offshore patrol vessels, and four inshore patrol vessels. After a two-year information-gathering and tender process, an Australian company, Tenix Defence, was selected as the primary contractor. The sealift ship, , was built by Dutch company Merwede Shipyard in Rotterdam, and based on a commercial roll-on/roll-off ferry built for Ireland. In mid-2007, the ship became the first Project Protector vessel to enter service, but problems during her early career required a remedial program to be put in place. The two Protector class offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) were built by Tenix at their Melbourne, Australia, shipyard to a design used by the Irish Naval Service, but several design mistakes resulted in the ships being 100 tons heavier than planned, and the OPVs were not commissioned until 2010. Four Protector class inshore patrol vessels (IPVs) were built at Tenix's North Island shipyard, and entered service during 2009. Because of the delay in bringing the ships to active duty (all seven were due into service by the end of 2007), BAE Systems Australia (which had acquired Tenix in 2008) was required to pay a compensatory settlement to the RNZN in early 2010. ==Background== In the June 2000 Defence Policy Framework (DPF), the New Zealand government identified that the New Zealand Defence Force had to be equally capable of both combat and peacekeeping operations.〔McKinnon, ''New Zealand's navy follows a new heading''〕 From the navy's perspective, prioritisation was given to sealift and transport of New Zealand Army units and equipment, and to maritime surveillance of both New Zealand's Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ), and the EEZs of allied South Pacific nations.〔〔 The RNZN was also required to develop a non-military operational capability that would allow it to undertake tasks such as disaster relief, throughout the region.〔 To identify if the RNZN could meet the capabilities identified in the DPF, the government initiated the Maritime Patrol Review (MPR), which was released in February 2001, followed by the more ship-specific Maritime Forces Review (MFR), which commenced in May 2001 and was released in January 2002.〔〔〔McKinnon, ''Capital Gains''〕 These reviews were not Ministry of Defence-only affairs: input was sought from other government ministries and bodies, including the Ministry of Fisheries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the New Zealand Customs Service, the New Zealand Police, and Maritime New Zealand.〔 These reviews identified that the RNZN did not meet the capability requirements identified in the DPF.〔 The main areas identified as lacking were patrol capabilities, both in the EEZ and inshore, and a sealift capability to transport personnel, equipment, and supplies throughout the region for both military and relief operations.〔 The MFR also found that the navy's two ''Anzac'' class frigates were both overcapable and too few in number to effectively patrol New Zealand's waters, and that tying them up on these duties prevented their use on more suitable deployments.〔 Around the same time as the reviews, the RNZN was looking to replace the training frigate , which was due to leave service in 2005.〔McKinnon & Scott, ''Industry lines up proposals for Project Protector''〕 The decision not to order the additional two frigates suggested under the ''Anzac'' acquisition project and the increased operational tempo during the early 2000s was straining the navy's capabilities and needed to be addressed.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Project Protector」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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