LANPAC 2026: New Zealand Army Chief Says Trust and Partnership Are the Indo-Pacific’s Decisive Terrain

HONOLULU— Leaders from across the Indo-Pacific gathered at the 2026 Land Forces Pacific LANPAC) Symposium and Exposition to discuss the future of deterrence, interoperability and collective security, May 13, where New Zealand Army Chief Maj. Gen. Rose King delivered a keynote emphasizing that trust, adaptability and partnership remain the decisive advantages in an increasingly contested region.

Introduced by a retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. John "Jack" Haley, Vice President for Membership and Meetings at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), King framed New Zealand’s modernization efforts around the realities of operating as a small force in a vast and strategically critical region.

She highlighted New Zealand’s focus on modernizing digital communications, strengthening interoperability and building a network-enabled force capable of integrating seamlessly with allies and partners across the Indo-Pacific.

“The ability to connect and share matters more now than it has done for decades, not as a courtesy, but as a necessity,” King said. “And it is through the shared experiences and our collective curiosity that we uplift others, and we strive for continuous improvement, and through our collective unity, we deter our adversaries.”

King opened her remarks with a traditional Māori greeting and acknowledged the partnership between New Zealand, the United States and regional allies participating in LANPAC 2026. Addressing fellow service chiefs, generals and senior enlisted leaders, she emphasized that collective security in the Indo-Pacific depends on understanding the perspectives, cultures and challenges of partner nations.

Speaking candidly about the realities faced by smaller militaries, King described the challenges of balancing modernization with limited resources while remaining prepared for increasingly complex threats.

“I have found in this role that all armies face similar problems,” King said. “Large armies experience them at scale, and small armies experience them without margin.”

She noted that New Zealand’s population is comparable to that of Melbourne, Australia, while simultaneously maintaining responsibility for the world’s fifth-largest exclusive economic zone. Those realities, she said, demand innovation, prioritization and close integration with trusted partners.

King highlighted New Zealand’s increased defense spending and strategic alignment with Australia and the United States, particularly in areas such as land lethality, maneuver, digital connectivity and interoperability. She described deterrence in the Pacific not simply as holding terrain, but as denying adversaries opportunities to exploit gaps between nations and alliances.

A recurring theme throughout her keynote was the urgency of adaptation. Drawing lessons from current conflicts, including Ukraine, King warned against delaying modernization efforts while waiting for ideal solutions.

“The lesson from Ukraine is simple, waiting for perfect capability carries its own risk,” King said. “There are lost opportunities in waiting for perfection over a system that achieves the immediate effect and that may not be useful the very next day.”

King called for procurement systems that can adapt at operational speed and stressed the importance of collaborating with industry partners to co-design, co-produce and co-sustain capabilities that strengthen resilience across the region.

She also underscored that modernization is not solely about technology. While advanced systems remain important, King argued that communication, trust and human relationships are what ultimately enable coalition effectiveness in contested environments.

“There is a temptation, I think, in every military, to jump straight to solutions that glitter, new platforms, new sensors, new acronyms,” King said. “But in the Pacific, deterrence fails more often because we did not get the basics right than because we lacked advanced technology.”

King emphasized that communication across services, nations and cultures remains foundational to mission success.

“If we cannot communicate across services, across nations, across classifications and across cultures, then all the hardware in the world will not compensate,” she said. “Adaptation does not have to be technological to be decisive.”

Focusing on the human dimension of warfare, King pointed to a longstanding Māori proverb that shapes New Zealand’s approach to leadership and readiness.

“In New Zealand, we have a whakataki, He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, He tangata, He tangata,” King said.

“The most important thing in the world is its people.”

She stressed the need to train adaptable leaders capable of operating with initiative, ethics and sound judgment in rapidly evolving operational environments. Mission command, she said, will become increasingly critical as contested communications challenge traditional command-and-control structures.

King also highlighted trust as a strategic advantage that cannot be rapidly manufactured during a crisis.

“What does not change as quickly is what I’ll call the software, the human, organizational and relational factors,” King said. “The trust, the judgment, the professional culture, the ability to operate with restraint as well as force.”

Throughout the keynote, King reinforced that sustained presence and authentic partnership across the Indo-Pacific are essential to deterrence and reassurance.

“Prevention through presence is not passive,” she said. “It is active reassurance. It is adapting how we approach what we know to build the most workable relationships and proper trust. It says we are here. We understand you, and we will not let you face pressures alone.”

She concluded by emphasizing that enduring partnerships remain the foundation of regional security and deterrence.

“That is not just strategy,” King said. “That is partnership. And in the Pacific, partnership is the decisive terrain, if we get that right, deterrence follows.”

During a question-and-answer session, King reiterated the importance of listening to regional partners and understanding that nations may perceive threats differently based on their own geography, history and strategic realities.

“How do we work collectively, to listen to our partners, understand what their threats are, because it may be a bit different to ours, but it doesn't mean they're less real,” King said.

Her remarks reinforced one of the central themes echoed throughout LANPAC 2026: that maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific will depend not only on advanced capabilities, but on trusted relationships, interoperable forces and the collective will of allies and partners committed to regional security.

The LANPAC Symposium & Exposition is an annual forum that brings together Indo-Pacific military leaders, industry, academia, and government partners to strengthen cooperation, share best practices, and advance integrated land operations across the USINDOPACOM area of responsibility.