Australia announced Tuesday a $4.7 billion deal to arm its navy with cutting-edge US medium and long-range missiles at a time of rapidly escalating military tensions in the Asia-Pacific.
The agreement, hailed by Canberra as a “significant milestone,” retools Australia’s naval defenses in line with a new strategy unveiled this year to deter China’s “coercive tactics” in the region.
Australia said it would spend 7 billion Australian dollars ($4.7 billion) to acquire the ship-borne SM-6 missile, which can strike aircraft and cruise missiles, and the medium-range SM-2 Block III C missile boasting new guidance and homing capabilities.
“Australia faces the most complex geo-strategic environment since the Second World War,” said Australia’s minister for defence industry, Pat Conroy, who was visiting Washington.
The “world-leading” missiles would “keep Australians safe, deter any adversary, and defend Australia’s national interests in the missile age,” he said.
The missiles are to be progressively deployed across Australia’s three Hobart-class destroyers and later the country’s planned Hunter-class anti-submarine frigates, the government said.
In April, Australia unveiled a defense strategy that envisaged a sharp rise in defense spending to counter its vulnerability to foes interrupting trade or preventing access to vital air and sea routes.
Besides rapidly developing its surface fleet, Australia plans to deploy stealthy nuclear-powered submarines in a tripartite agreement with the United States and Britain known as AUKUS.