Conventionally armed, nuclear‑powered submarines and infrastructure will receive $53 billion to $63 billion over the next decade as part of Australia’s investment in developing a Navy with enhanced maritime, air and land strike capability.
This is one of the commitments in the newly released 2024 Integrated Investment Program, which sets out spending priorities that will be central to the National Defence approach outlined in the National Defence Strategy.
Investment in infrastructure in Western Australia out to the mid-2030s will support the transition to a sovereign Australian nuclear-powered submarine operating base.
The Government will also allow $4 billion to $5 billion for upgrading and sustaining the current fleet of six Collins-class submarines, which underpin the transition to the new submarines.
To complement crewed undersea warfare capabilities and the Navy’s surface combatant fleet, $5.2 billion to $7.2 billion will be dedicated to subsea warfare capabilities and new autonomous and uncrewed maritime vehicles, including through AUKUS Pillar II Advanced Capabilities.
Planned investments include the development and acquisition of large and extra‑large uncrewed and autonomous underwater vehicles to undertake stealth missions in high‑risk environments, alongside the continued acquisition of Bluebottle uncrewed surface vessels for persistent maritime surveillance.
About $51 billion to $69 billion will fund maritime capabilities for sea denial, and localised sea control operations will expand the Navy’s surface combatant fleet.
An expanded fleet of 36 MH‑60R Romeo helicopters, costing $2.4 billion to $2.7 billion, will support the additional major vessels in the fleet.
The Navy’s long-range strike capabilities will be enhanced through the acquisition of the Tomahawk weapon system from the United States.
The next-generation Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile Block II and SM-2 and SM-6 missiles will also be acquired for the Hobart-class destroyers, Hunter-class frigates and general-purpose frigates.
Additional funding for maritime capabilities includes about $12 billion to $15 billion for sea-based strike, $2 billion to $3 billion for elements of the electronic warfare capabilities and $810 million to $910 million for maritime command systems. These investments will allow the Navy to hold targets at risk for longer ranges, providing greater capacity to target adversary aircraft and missiles.
The National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program are available on the National Defence Strategy website.
Experts from the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney made the following comments:
Dr Michael Green, Chief Executive Officer
“Australia’s new defence plan sets the right tone on the China challenge and the right direction for the ADF overall, but questions about adequacy of budget will linger as they do for most democracies right now.”
Professor Peter Dean, Director of Foreign Policy and Defence
“My first cut take on the National Defence Strategy is that the spirit, intent and direction of the Defence Strategic Review (DSR) is maintained and government priorities are focused in the right areas. It is a very welcome injection of new funds for uplift. By 2034 Australia’s defence budget will double.
“On first look it is at least $1B per year over and above already announced investments. The focus on the US alliance and other partnerships is excellent, especially with Japan.
“Overall it is a very good document, on track from the DSR and a natural evolution.”
Tom Corben Foreign Policy and Defence Research Fellow
“The framing of the inaugural 2024 National Defence Strategy is notable for its emphasis on ensuring that Australia is well-positioned to contribute to a favourable strategic balance in an increasingly multipolar Indo-Pacific where no one power is, or should be, dominant. This is not simply a clear-eyed recognition that US military power in Asia is in relative decline: it’s an assessment that a favourable balance of power and a regional order beneficial to Australian interests ultimately depends on building out a strategy of collective deterrence with the United States, Japan, India and others – a strategy to which Australia has indispensable contributions to make now and in future years.
“Importantly, that strategy will depend on a military capable of undertaking operations and activities out in the wider region, not simply in Australia’s immediate waters and airspace. In that sense, the emphasis on reorienting the Australian Defence Force from a highly flexible to a more focussed force capable of delivering deterrence effects far from Australian shores is appropriate. Focussing on the development of power projection capabilities with ‘operationally and strategically relevant ranges’, including platforms like submarines and a range of specific long-range precision missiles and unmanned systems, will be critical to meeting threats to Australian interests out in the region where they are most acutely manifest.”
