Babcock International has entered into a strategic partnership with New Zealand-based Company-X to broaden the global availability of advanced virtual reality (VR) training solutions for military customers. Announced during the Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition in Sydney, the collaboration marks an important milestone for New Zealand’s growing defense technology sector. Company-X, which already provides immersive VR platforms to the Royal New Zealand Navy, aims to scale its high-fidelity training tools and reinforce its supply chain through this new global outreach.
The agreement comes at a crucial time as New Zealand implements sweeping reforms to its defense procurement policy. Under the updated regulations, foreign defense contractors are now required to actively engage local companies in both capability development and long-term sustainment. The revised framework also guides the New Zealand Defence Force to more thoroughly evaluate solutions from smaller domestic tech firms, ensuring they can contribute alongside established international suppliers and benefit from long-term defense contracts.
New Zealand is simultaneously pushing new initiatives to accelerate defense innovation. A government-backed Technology Development Fund worth up to 300 million NZD ($174 million) aims to support cutting-edge military technologies and uplift the national defense-industrial base. This investment complements major acquisition programs earlier in the year, including the procurement of five Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk helicopters under a $1.16-billion project designed to strengthen maritime security, anti-submarine warfare, and surveillance capabilities.
Adding to these modernization efforts, the Royal New Zealand Air Force recently completed a full upgrade of its NH90 helicopter fleet, integrating new avionics, mission systems, and performance enhancements. Together, these reforms, investments, and new partnerships underscore New Zealand’s drive to build a more resilient, high-technology defense ecosystem—one in which the Babcock and Company-X collaboration is expected to play a key role.
