Air Power Development Centre (APDC)

What is air power?

Air power may be defined as the ability to create or enable the creation of effects by or from platforms using the atmosphere for manoeuvre. Its enduring essence is the ability to sense, move and engage in the third dimension, for the conduct of military operations to advance national security interests. 

Sensing achieves situational awareness and ranges from visual sight to sophisticated leveraging off the electromagnetic spectrum using a variety of sensors. Movement, of both personnel and materiel, constitutes an essential component of military operations, and engagement may be either kinetic or non-kinetic in order to influence behaviour or the course of events.

While it has enduring features, air power is dynamic and evolves in response to intellectual and technological progress. It is holistic in nature, working from the ‘mind out and up’, but does not exist in isolation.  Explicitly, air power is complimentary and supplementary to land and maritime power for the maximisation of effect in a Joint, Interagency and Multinational security environment.

Air power and the RNZAF

Established in 1997, the mission of the Air Power Development Centre (APDC) is to research, formulate, and disseminate information on air power, from a New Zealand perspective, in order to promote awareness on the contribution of air power to the security of New Zealand.

APDC, which is located at RNZAF Base Ohakea, reports directly to the Deputy Chief of Air Force and has an establishment of five posts. 

The main effort of the Centre is to contribute to professional military education in the RNZAF and across the NZDF. Modules on air power are included on all RNZAF induction and promotion courses and covered on a range of other single and tri-service courses, up to and including Staff Course. APDC staff also mentor individuals undertaking studies in air power-related topics and provide tailored lecture packages on an as required basis. Additionally, awareness-raising and education in air power is extended to the wider community, for example, in partnership with Massey University on various degree programmes.

The secondary function of APDC is to undertake and contribute to doctrine development for the RNZAF and NZDF, at the philosophical and application levels (ie, strategic and operational). Unlike policy, which is prescriptive, doctrine is about guidance and equates to ‘best practice’ in civilian parlance.  An inter-related function undertaken by APDC is the coordination and management of RNZAF and NZDF involvement in the Air and Space Interoperability Council (ASIC); an organisation which develops agreements and standards for enhanced interoperability between the air forces of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and United States of America.  ASIC also operates an equipment loan programme for test and evaluation purposes which is open to all three services of the NZDF via APDC channels.

Domestic and international research is an underlying function of all APDC activities and is undertaken on an ongoing basis and in response to requests for information, with the Centre acting as a resource base for the RNZAF and NZDF on matters air power. APDC also contributes to concepts development in conjunction with HQ NZDF Capability Branch.