John Battersby: Massey University Centre for Defence and Security Studies Senior Fellow on the Government considering purchasing one-way strike drones

A defence expert's in favour of drones with strike capability as the Government weighs its options. 

It's looking into buying one-way military strike drones that are operated by humans and used to drop explosives on a target. 

They're currently playing a huge role in ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. 

Massey University Senior Fellow John Battersby told Mike Hosking our Air Force lost its strike capability decades ago, so there's a need for it. 

He says we have our military forces for the purpose of contributing to our defence, wherever that may be. 

The drones also serve as a lower-cost alternative to missiles and combat jets, which Battersby says are too expensive for us.  

He says these drones are much more cost-effective, reasonably easy to access, and we could possibly even make them. 

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