The New Zealand Navy plans to buy sophisticated new Israeli-made automatic gun systems to protect its frigates from the threat posed by terrorists using explosive-laden speedboats.
The latest issue of the navy's monthly magazine Navy Today reports the Rafael mini-typhoon gun direction system is being procured for the Anzac-class frigates.
The system uses a sophisticated camera and a laser range-finder to automatically aim a stabilized machine gun at any likely threat. The gun is controlled from a ship's operations room but it can also be set to fire independently.
Israelis have fitted similar guns to unmanned high-speed patrol craft and the Australian navy is fitting it to its new patrol craft.