A Poseidon surveillance plane. Photo: CPL Rachel Pugh / Supplied
The air force has sent one of its new Poseidon surveillance planes to monitor United Nations sanctions against North Korea.
A multinational force of planes and ships has been monitoring the rogue state out of a Japanese naval base since 2018.
The New Zealand plane and crew will spend a month looking for evidence of ship-to-ship transfers North Korea might use for its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) said, as an important contribution to upholding the rules-based international system and encouraging denuclearisation.
"There will be further deployments of our assets to support the operation later this year."
NZDF said last December all key missions were still going ahead, but were becoming more difficult due to shortages of personnel and resources.
Earlier this month the government announced $9 billion of new spending on defence in the next four years.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis on Tuesday said defence was one of the few "most important priorities" that would get new spending in the Budget next month.
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