In an over three-decade career in the Royal New Zealand Navy, Captain Andrew Watts RNZNR commanded HMNZ Ships Pukaki, Wellington, Resolution and Te Mana, and served as Director, Capability Development and Programme Director Network Enabled Capability (2005-09), and Captain, Fleet Personnel & Training (2009-11). Following three years at Opus International Consultants, he rejoined the Navy in 2014 to take up an appointment as Director, Operation NEPTUNE, and then Lead, Future Surface Combatant, Capability Branch, HQNZDF. He was subsequently Defence Adviser at KPMG based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His article Designing the next fleet was published in the inaugural issue of the Professional Journal of the Royal New Zealand Navy in December 2020.
Selected Articles (as author)
- Future Force Design Principles and the next generation Royal New Zealand Navy fleet, Line of Defence Magazine (online), 18 September 2023.
- What the Australian Defence Strategic Review could mean for New Zealand naval force structure, Line of Defence Magazine, Issue 28, Winter (July) 2023.
- Modularity: What our partners are doing to build future-focused navies, Line of Defence Magazine, Issue 26, Summer (December) 2022.
- The Navy: What do our partners really think of us, hypothetically?, Line of Defence Magazine, Issue 24, Winter (July) 2022.
- Defence Assessment 2021: A maritime (not naval) view, Line of Defence Magazine, Issue 23, Autumn (March) 2022.
- Sustained Presence: The Royal New Zealand Navy and the Grey Zone, Line of Defence Magazine, Issue 22, Summer (December) 2021.
- Modularity and the Shape of New Zealand’s Next Naval Fleet, Line of Defence Magazine, Issue 22, Summer (December) 2021.
