The Albanese government will spend up to $2 billion beefing up Australia’s missile capabilities, including buying a renowned long-range rocket system credited with helping Ukraine turn the tide in its war against Russia.
The government is purchasing 20 land-based High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers from the United States, which have been hailed by one analyst as the “new God of war” after their success on the battlefield in Ukraine.
The long-range missile launcher has been credited with a key role in Ukraine’s fight against Russian invaders. Credit:AP
The Australian Navy’s fleet of Anzac Class frigates and Hobart Class destroyers will also be equipped with new cutting-edge naval strike missiles from next year, replacing the current stock of ageing Harpoon anti-ship missiles.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said: “In the current strategic environment, it’s important the Australian Defence Force is equipped with high-end, targeted military capabilities.
The purchase reflects Marles’ aim of reshaping the Australian Defence Force around a doctrine of “impactful projection” to keep potential adversaries as far away from the Australian mainland as possible.
China has been rapidly expanding its stocks of ballistic missiles and long-range bombers, raising fears it could target the Australian mainland from a nearby Pacific island nation or archipelago.
HIMARS munitions can currently be fired up to 300 kilometres, a major increase on the Australian Army’s maximum strike capacity of 30 to 50 kms from the light-weight howitzer.
Future HIMARS munitions are expected to travel as far as 500 kilometres.
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said: “This is the most significant single investment in Australia’s strike capability in living memory, if not ever.
“These investments will allow us to keep potential adversaries at bay from farther afield.”
The HIMARS system – manufactured by US defence giant Lockheed Martin – will be in use in Australia by 2026-2027.
The surface-to-surface system includes a weapon-locating radar, manufactured by Australian company CEA, to detect and respond to land, air and maritime threats.
Conroy said the government was announcing the purchases ahead of the release of a major defence strategic review in March because long-range strike capabilities were in “huge demand” around the world.
“We had to act fast to make sure we got the weapons as soon as possible,” he said.
Conroy said the reviewers, former defence minister Stephen Smith and former ADF chief Angus Houston, had been told about the purchase and believed it was consistent with their thinking.
The total cost of the naval and land missile purchases is between $1 billion and $2 billion.
The government is not revealing the total cost so that potential adversaries do not know how many missiles the Australian Defence Force possess.
Analysts from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute said in a report last month that Australia needs to expand its long-range strike options because of the dramatic growth in capability of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
“The ‘worst case’ scenario for Australia’s military strategy has always been the prospect of an adversary establishing a presence in our near region from which it can target Australia or isolate us from our partners and allies,” Marcus Hellyer and Andrew Nicholls wrote.
”PLA strike capabilities in the archipelago to our north or the South-West Pacific, whether on ships and submarines or land-based missiles and aircraft, would be that worst case.“
In May, the US State Department approved an Australian request for 20 HIMARS launchers, as well as 30 guided multiple launch rocket systems, 10 army tactical missile systems and a set of warhead, explosive and unitary pods at a total cost of $567 million.
The United States has supplied Ukraine with at least 20 HIMARS systems, which played a key role in the November recapture of the strategically important port city of Kherson.
Mark Voyger, a non-resident senior fellow at the Centre for European Analysis, has described the system as the “new God of war” because of the advantage it has provided Ukrainian troops.
Ukraine used the rocket system to attack the Antonivsky Bridge in August, cutting off a crucial supply line for Russian troops that had been stationed in Kherson.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked western nations for supplying the missile launchers and ammunition during a visit to Kherson after Ukrainian troops recaptured the city.
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