Chinese warships conducting unusual exercises near Tasmania are armed with “extremely capable” long-range ballistic missiles, New Zealand’s defence minister warned.

The three ships, known as Taskgroup 107, undertook live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea on Friday and Saturday, triggering a diplomatic row and forcing commercial airlines to divert flights mid-air.

Judith Collins, the New Zealand defence minister, said: “We’ve certainly never seen a task group of this capability undertaking this sort of work, it’s certainly a change.

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