Canberra: Australia announced plans to significantly bolster its missile defense and production capabilities, citing rising regional tensions and a new “missile age” in the Indo-Pacific. Defense Minister Pat Conroy underscored Australia’s commitment to increasing missile stockpiles, strengthening partnerships with the United States, Japan, and South Korea, and enhancing local manufacturing of defense equipment.
“Why do we need more missiles? Strategic competition between the United States and China is a primary feature of Australia’s security environment,” Conroy said during a speech at the National Press Club in Canberra. His comments follow China’s September test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that traveled over 11,000 kilometers, landing in the Pacific Ocean northeast of Australia.
With the Indo-Pacific region witnessing an intensifying arms race, Conroy stated, “We expressed significant concern about that ballistic missile test, especially its entry into the South Pacific given the Treaty of Rarotonga that says the Pacific should be a nuclear weapons-free zone.” In response, Australia is deploying SM-6 missiles across its naval destroyer fleet to enhance ballistic missile defense capabilities.
Earlier this month, Australia signed a A$7 billion agreement with the U.S. to acquire advanced SM-2 IIIC and Raytheon SM-6 long-range missiles for its navy. The government also committed A$74 billion over the next decade to missile acquisition and defense, including A$21 billion dedicated to the Australian Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise—a new initiative to establish domestic missile manufacturing.
“We must show potential adversaries that hostile acts against Australia would not succeed and could not be sustained if conflict were protracted,” Conroy asserted.
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As part of its long-term strategy, Australia will invest A$316 million to establish a local manufacturing facility for Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS) in partnership with Lockheed Martin. Set to begin production by 2029, the factory will have an annual capacity of 4,000 GMLRS, accounting for a quarter of current global production.
Additionally, French defense contractor Thales will establish an Australian manufacturing site for 155mm M795 artillery shells, used in howitzers, at a government-owned facility in Benalla, Victoria. This facility, the first outside the United States, will begin production in 2028, with the capacity to produce up to 100,000 rounds annually. Conroy noted the heavy use of these artillery shells in Ukraine, where consumption reached 10,000 rounds per day last year—surpassing European production rates.
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“In a world marked by supply chain disruption and strategic fragility, Australia needs not only to acquire more missiles but to make more here at home,” he added.
In a further move toward strengthening its defense arsenal, Australia will co-manufacture long-range Naval Strike Missiles and Joint Strike Missiles with Norway’s Kongsberg Defence in Newcastle, marking the only production site outside Norway. By the end of the year, Australia’s navy will also be equipped with Tomahawk missiles, extending its reach by 2,500 km (1,550 miles) and increasing the fleet’s strike range tenfold.
