Australia to buy US missiles at a cost of 7 billion Australian dollars (US$4.7 billion) to increase its long-range strike capability, and Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy warned of “the biggest arms race” in the region since 1945.
Conroy announced the purchase of the Standard Missile Block IIIC and Standard Missile-6 during a visit to Washington on Monday, describing them in a statement as the “world’s most advanced air and missile defense weapons.”
The missiles will be deployed on the Navy’s Hobart-class destroyers in the near futureand then on its new Hunter-class frigates once they are delivered at a later date, according to the government.
Conroy said the world is “living in the missile age”in an interview with the Australian Financial Review during his visit to Washington.
“I have been very clear that the best way to avoid conflict is to deter any potential adversary, and this investment is part of that,” he said.
Australia has been restructuring its military posture since the election of the centre-left Labor government in May 2022, with a shift toward an area denial capability strategy. The adjustment in military posture and increase in missile capability comes as great power competition intensifies in the Indo-Pacific between the United States and China.
In August, Conroy announced that Australia would partner with Kongsberg Gruppen ASA to manufacture long-range missiles in Newcastlenorth of Sydney. In early 2024, the government unveiled plans to manufacture missiles domestically with Lockheed Martin Corp.
