Anzus war games cost taxpayer $3.6m

New Zealand taxpayers have paid more than $3.6 million for our armed forces to play war games with the big boys.

The Defence Force has released its budget for exercise Talisman Saber, a biennial Australian and United States war game off Australia in which New Zealand took part this year for the first time.

The figures, released under the Official Information Act, covered only the budgeted costs, with actual costs not expected to be available till October, Commodore Ross Smith said.

The Defence Force did not respond to questions about whether the $3.66m budgeted cost was value for money.

During the biennial Exercise Talisman Sabre, held over 20 days, 33,000 Australian, US, New Zealand and Japanese personnel took part in exercises in central Queensland and the Northern Territory.

In June, two NH90 helicopters, 22 light armoured vehicles, and 23 other vehicles were loaded aboard the 9000-tonne HMNZS Canterbury in Wellington to take part in the operation.

The Canterbury joined two other ships, two other aircraft and 620 Defence Force personnel heading to the operation, which will be held in Australian and US training areas from July 5 to 21.

A breakdown of the budgeted costs, supplied by the Defence Force, shows operating the Hercules and Boeing aircraft cost $870,000 for the exercise.

The two new H90 helicopters came with a $460,000 price tag while the three ships – Canterbury, Te Kaha, Endeavour – had a combined cost of $1.61m.

Soldiers, vehicles and support staff cost $600,000.

Other costs included pre-exercise planning and sending staff to work with other nations in the exercise.

Overall, the operation involved 21 ships including the carrier USS George Washington, more than 200 aircraft, and three submarines.

During the 2013 exercises, US warplanes were forced to ditch four bombs on the Great Barrier Reef when they ran low on fuel, and two inert explosives were left there.