Prime Minister Morrison announced that he will spend A$1 billion to fast-track Australia’s venture to create guided weapons and build a new military manufacturing industry to fight the Chinese Communist Party.
In response to the deteriorating strategic environment, the Australian government expects to spend $100 billion over the next 20 years on missiles and guided weapons. Recent U.S. defense documents also mention enhanced missile capabilities as key to countering China’s (CCP) military dominance in the Pacific.
According to The Australian, the Morrison government’s initiative has two main strategic goals at a Time of growing tensions between Australia and China: to provide Australia with greater missile supply security, and to significantly strengthen the U.S.-Australian military alliance, cementing the closest relationship of advanced technology sharing and integration of military supply chains.
“Building our own sovereign capabilities on Australian soil is critical to protecting the security of Australians, while also providing thousands of local jobs for companies across the defense supply chain,” Morrison said.
“As the pandemic has shown, having self-reliance, whether in vaccine development or Australia’s defense, is critical to meeting our own needs in a changing global environment. We must now prioritize moving forward to build a guided weapons capability that preserves our sovereignty.”
The government plans to select a company as a strategic partner this year. Nominated partners include Raytheon Australia, Lockheed Martin Australia, Kongsberg and BAE Systems Australia . Of these, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin are U.S. companies, which could give these two companies an advantage as this is the highest level agreement between Canberra and Washington.
The principles of the agreement have been negotiated in a series of Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN). The intellectual property rights are primarily owned by the U.S. side, and the Biden administration must agree to use them in Australia.
Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton said, “We will be working closely with the United States on this important initiative to ensure we understand our business and what will best support Australia’s needs and the growing needs of our most important military partners.”
Australian Defense Industry Minister Melissa Price believes the weapons manufacturing venture will ultimately create more than two thousand jobs in the supply chain across Australia.
If Australia can become a second-tier supplier of U.S. missiles, the venture will elevate Australia into the world’s top 10 defense exporters and eventually outstrip the size of the future $40 billion frigate program.
Raytheon Australia managing director Michael Ward said the company would start producing missiles at its Mawson Lakes plant in South Australia within three years if it was chosen as a strategic partner to the government.
Morrison opened Raytheon’s Joint Integration Center in South Australia on Wednesday (March 31). The center is responsible, among other projects, for assembling, integrating and testing the Army’s new short-range ground-based air defense capability.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, second from right, cuts the ribbon at the opening of Raytheon Australia’s Joint Integration Center in Adelaide, March 31, 2021.
If Australia does start producing missiles within three years, it will be much faster than most defense experts or the government itself predicted when the idea was first seriously considered.
Defense industry sources welcomed the initiative. Thales Australia CEO Chris Jenkins said Australia becoming a manufacturer of guided weapons would be “a key element of Australia’s self-reliance in long-range strike and deterrence capabilities.
The Australian government said the new facility announced Wednesday could create $40 billion worth of domestic production and export sales.
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