New Zealand raised fresh concerns Monday over nearby live-fire drills conducted by Chinese warships armed with “extremely capable” weapons, an unprecedented show of firepower last week that analysts say is part of Beijing’s ongoing plan to build a blue-water navy with global reach.

A Chinese Navy formation held two live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand on Friday and Saturday, prompting passenger planes to change course mid-flight and rattling officials in both countries.

Judith Collins, the defense minister of New Zealand, said such drills were unprecedented in those waters.

“We’ve certainly never seen a task force or task group of this capability undertaking that sort of work. So it is certainly a change,” Collins told public broadcaster Radio New Zealand (RNZ) on Monday.

“The weapons they have are extremely capable. One has 112 vertical launch cells and has reported an anti-ship ballistic missile range of 540 nautical miles,” she said.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy ships, consisting of a frigate, a cruiser, and a replenishment vessel, had been sailing down the coast of Australia since mid-February, according to the Australian Defense Force.

The cruiser Zunyi, a Type 055 destroyer, is by far the most capable PLA Navy surface combatant in service—capable of firing ballistic missiles and reportedly hypersonic missiles too, said Collin Koh, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

“Its presence so far south in the Tasman Sea – and as part of a full-fledged combat flotilla – is really considered unusual and rather unprecedented,” he added. “In recent years, the PLA Navy has shifted from near seas to far seas. They’re increasingly training themselves up to be a true blue-water navy.”

Chinese state media have suggested that Western countries should get used to such military exercises in their nearby waters.

Song Zhongping, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the nationalist tabloid The Global Times that the PLA Navy will increasingly conduct exercises not only near China’s shores but also in international waters.

As drills like these will become more frequent, some countries should adjust to this trend, Song told the newspaper.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday that while China’s drills complied with international law, Beijing “could have given more notice.”

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she sought an explanation from her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi when the two met in Johannesburg on Saturday on the sidelines of a G20 foreign ministers gathering.

China’s Defense Ministry slammed Australia on Sunday for “hyping up” the drills and making “unreasonable accusations.”

Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the ministry, said China had issued safety notices in advance and that the exercises conducted in international waters complied with international law and did not affect aviation safety.

But Collins said China’s warning was given at too short notice.

“There was a warning to civil aviation flights that was basically a very short amount of notice, a couple of hours, as opposed to what we would consider best practice, which is 12-24 hours’ notice so that aircraft do not have to be diverted when they’re on the wing,” she told RNZ.

Collins added that the ships were currently about 280 nautical miles east of Tasmania and had slightly changed their formations while being closely monitored by a New Zealand navy frigate.

New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is scheduled to visit China on Tuesday at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Blue-water ambitions

Under leader Xi Jinping, China has built the world’s largest naval fleet, boasting a battle force of more than 370 ships and submarines, according to the Pentagon’s latest annual report on the Chinese military.

It’s also expanded in scope and reach, operating not just in regional waters but projecting power in open oceans thousands of miles from China.

The expansion of China’s global maritime presence first started in the Indian Ocean, where the PLA Navy have been carrying out counter-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden since 2008.

“Along the way, they would conduct whatever far sea training that they need…to give their crew the exposure and to validate the capabilities of the hardware they have produced over the years,” said Koh, the maritime expert in Singapore.

Then, in 2015, Chinese naval ships were spotted for the first time in the Bering Sea off the coast of the US state of Alaska.

And while it is increasingly common for Chinese naval ships—such as space-tracking ships or icebreakers on their way to Antarctica—to traverse the South Pacific in recent years, the presence of a full-fledged combat flotilla this far south is rather unprecedented, Koh said.

The latest live-fire drills in the South Pacific are “like adding another feather in the cap,” Koh said.

“While the PLA Navy at present still cannot be compared to the US Navy in terms of global reach and the ability to conduct full-fledged blue water operations… clearly the PLA Navy’s trajectory right now is moving towards that.”

And the presence of the flotilla signals growing operational confidence of the PLA Navy, in not just sailing there but also conducting live fire exercises, as well as weapons training, Koh said.

“They have become more confident to assert or even show military muscle in the region, despite the sort of disquiet that comes from Australia and New Zealand about Chinese intent and their growing influence in their backyard,” Koh said.