8 APRIL 2025 | OUR PARTNERSHIPS
DST and the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade hosted the first activity of 2025 under the New Zealand-United States Dialogue on Critical and Emerging Technologies as part of the recently signed 2024 US-NZ Strategic Dialogue Joint Statement.
The activity was a tabletop exercise (TTX) examining how to counter small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) and the implications of artificial intelligence in this area.
The TTX was led by US State Department and Department of Defense experts with participants from government agencies from the US, NZ, and Australia, making allied nations safer and more secure.
The TTX recognised the complex nature of countering sUAS and addressed technical, policy, legal, and regulatory issues. TTX participants exchanged and developed insights on challenges and their respective solutions, fostering a robust collaborative network.
As a result of the activity, the nations involved have identified opportunities for tangible improvements to their approaches to countering sUAS.