The US Army created this official training environment, called the Decisive Action Training Environment (DATE), in 2023 and the NZDF joined it soon after. Photo: TRADOC / US Army
The New Zealand army is using US Army software that offers "worlds of wargames" simulations to help run massive real-world international military exercises.
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) is this coming week embarking on one such exercise, sending about 700 soldiers to Talisman Sabre, a 35,000-strong Australian-US bilateral operation across the Tasman.
It was also recently on a US-led exercise that used scenarios where militaries could choose from barely disguised pseudo-countries called, for instance, Olvana and Himaldesh, and click to set how intense the wargame would be.
The US Army created this official training environment, called the Decisive Action Training Environment (DATE), in 2023 and the NZDF joined it soon after.
One "world" it offers is the Indo-Pacific.
"NZ Army has recently adopted DATE- INDOPACIFIC to define its training adversary, capabilities and tactics," the NZDF said last year.
It has its own tab inserted into Australia's version of DATE.
One "world" it offers is the Indo-Pacific. Photo: TRADOC / US Army
One scenario offered there was "NZ operating as part of an ANZAC Division supported by elms [elements] of the SOUTH TORBIAN Army against a NORTH TORBIAN adversary fighting in SOUTH TORBIA".
On maps, Torbia corresponded to the Philippines, while Olvana corresponded to most of China.
The US Army said DATE provided a "foundational narrative" for wargames.
"By continuously updating DATE World to reflect the evolving operational environment, the US Army ensures its soldiers are prepared to fight and win anywhere in the world," it said in the introduction.
The US Army had control over updating the "worlds". Enemy forces were "realistically modelled", it said.
The narrative about Olvana said it "maintains the largest military in the Pacific region" and "Olvana has successfully closed the technological gap that once separated it from Western militaries".
Olvana had nuclear missiles, the game said, which laid out an elaborate force structure. The New Zealand version displayed a fake United Nations resolution that condemned the "Olvanan invasion of Belesia" and demanded withdrawal.
The other worlds offered include Africa, Eurasia and Polar.
The gamer enemy's capabilities would "continuously evolve to reflect the contemporary geostrategic situation", the NZDF site said.
Real countries could be used as friendly or neutral actors, but "real countries cannot be used as belligerents in unclassified scenarios".
DATE was also recently on a US-led exercise that used scenarios where militaries could choose from barely disguised pseudo-countries. Photo: TRADOC / US Army
Links at the NZDF tab take a user back to the US site.
Australia's version gives the capital of Olvana as Shanghai.
The US Army unit behind DATE, called Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), said it helped army forces "out-think and outmanoeuvre adversaries".
In April it put out a 42-page report titled "How China Fights in Large-Scale Combat Operations" that was disseminated to all US partners.
The report would "drive curriculum development... support the writing of Army doctrine, and enhance the realism and relevance of US Army training scenarios".
The growing threat from China has been an underlying theme in documents about several recent Pentagon initiatives to which New Zealand has signed up. One is Project Convergence, where NZDF took part for the first time last year, within a DATE world.
The exercise was "pivotal", the NZDF said.
"Engaging live Opposing Force (OPFOR) based on the ... DATE tactics which tested participants and pushed the capabilities in play to their limits.
"It marks a significant milestone in New Zealand military collaboration and technological advancement."
For this year's Project Convergence, the NZDF went to Texas to help the US plan the main exercise, briefed the US Army Futures Command afterwards and had to have all its technology vetted by the Americans, a response to a request under the Official Information Act (OIA) said.
A "detailed enemy will be built across tactical and strategic activities", NZ Army records said.
Its top objective at Convergence 2025 was to experiment with integrating its "Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Electronic Warfare" capabilities into the multinational force, the response said.
The Pentagon initiatives New Zealand had joined were noted in an open letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Friday from several prominent people including Helen Clark and Don Brash.
"More recently, the United States has described China not only as a competitor, but also as an adversary, and has been putting pressure on other countries to take sides," they wrote.
They said the government was "positioning New Zealand alongside the United States as an adversary of China".
"For example, since coming to office, your government has signed New Zealand up to a number of strategic groupings led by the United States."
A footnote cited an opinion article in which Clark and an AUT historian Dr Marco de Jong said the groupings included the Partnership for Indo-Pacific Industrial Resilience (PIPIR) to link defence supply chains, and Project Overmatch which is the US Navy's equivalent of Project Convergence. RNZ first revealed New Zealand had signed up to these.
The government did not publicly announce these moves.
Another initiative that Clark and Brash and the other letter writers mentioned, was joining the elite space security group Operation Olympic Defender - the government did announce this last October, though it said more about its scientific than military links.
Integrating its allies is now a top Pentagon priority.
"The US is looking to advance its priorities through 'integrated deterrence': Using all levers of national power seamlessly with Allies and partners across the spectrum of conflict and warfighting domains into all theatres," its 2022 national defence strategy said.
"Outside of AUKUS, the DoD (Pentagon) is not adequately integrating key allies and partners, thereby leaving significant resources and capabilities underutilized. Integrating emerging partners into its collaborative innovation network should be a top priority for the DoD," a Pentagon report on innovation said last year.
ABC News in Australia last week headlined a story "Is the US preparing for war in the Pacific?"
"To counter a resurgent China, the US is racing to revitalise remote airstrips in the Pacific Ocean," it said.
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