The Royal New Zealand Navy and Royal Australian Navy have formalised their maritime partnership through Plan Tasman, a cooperation framework announced on 21 September 2026 that shifts the Anzac naval relationship from traditional collaboration to "integration by design."
Deputy Chief of the RNZN Commodore Karl Woodhead and his RAN counterpart Rear Admiral Darren Grogan signed the agreement, which coordinates action across personnel, training, capability development, warfighting, engineering, regulation and international engagement.
Commodore Woodhead described the 160-year maritime relationship as strengthened "over generations in times of both war and peacetime cooperation." He said Plan Tasman responds to strategic guidance to deepen the alliance as the region becomes "increasingly contested against the backdrop of a deteriorating global security environment."
Rear Admiral Grogan said the agreement provides "a practical framework to strengthen the way we train, operate and develop capability together."
Plan Tasman follows the Tasman Navy Framework, a strategic engagement dialogue between the two navy chiefs signed in November 2024. The new plan sets out specific areas the two navies will work through together — from training and engineering to regulation and international engagement — as they pursue closer integration in the Indo-Pacific.
