Pat Conroy, Australian defense industry minister, takes press questions about long-range missile purchases in front of HMAS Warramunga, berthed in Sydney Credit: Colin Clark
SYDNEY — Standing before the backdrop of the frigate HMAS Warramunga, Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy told reporters that Australia’s National Security Committee had approved the $1.3 billion AUD ($833 million USD) purchase of more than 200 Tomahawk cruise missiles and the $431 million AUD ($276 million USD) purchase of advanced long-range anti-radar missiles (AARGM-ER).
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency published congressional notifications about both sales, the AARGM-ER missiles in February and the Tomahawks in mid-March. However, DSCA notifications rarely are correct on the final dollar and quantity values, and formal approval for the purchase had not yet been taken by the government. It may also be significant that this was announcement came just days after the Australian Labor Party Conference, where the future of AUKUS was sharply debated. The party’s left wing remains pragmatically opposed to significantly increased defense spending, especially if the word nuclear is attached.
The opacity of the Australian defense procurement system also lends considerable uncertainty to any weapon buy. Asked whether funding was already in hand for the missiles or if, as has happened frequently in the last few years, the government in power had simply shuffled money from one pot to another, Conroy noted this procurement is in line with Australia’s long-term defense planning.
“All the funding for these acquisitions is in the Integrated Investment Program, which is the the way we allocate money from the defense budget to buy weapons systems,” Conroy said in response to a question from Breaking Defense. “Importantly, one of the first decisions of the Albanese Labor government after the Defense Strategic Review was to allocate $4.1 billion for long-range strike and missile manufacturing over the next four years. So that was moved into that part of the defense budget.”
Conroy and his boss, Defense Minister Richard Marles, were clearly proud of the fact that Australia is the only country other than Britain to receive permission to buy Tomahawks, with the fact mentioned several times in statements and at today’s press conference. (Earlier this year, the Netherlands announced plans to procure some Tomahawks for experimentation with their future frigates.) The cruise missiles have a 1,500-kilometer range and will be integrated into Hobart-class destroyers, with eventual integration also into Australia’s nuclear-powered attack subs.
The AARGM-ERs will be carried by Australia’s F-18s, augmenting the F-35 joint strike fighter fleet’s considerable power to destroy radars and surface-to-air missile systems.
Several of the press questions were about China’s perception of what the purchase might mean and whether Beijing was the reason for the purchase. After denying China was the target several times, Conroy said this:
“Oh, look. This is about what Australia is doing to increase our defense capability, as I said on the weekend with the deputy prime minister. China, for example, is moving from six nuclear-powered submarines in 2000 to having 21. In six years time they’ve moved from 57 major surface vessels to 200. Australia is investing in our defense capability because ultimately, deterrence is how you promote peace and stability in our region. And we’re complementing that with our strong diplomatic efforts. So the important thing is, we’re doing both things at the same time — increasing our diplomatic engagement and investing in our Australian Defence Force to preserve peace.”
In addition to the long-range missile systems, the Australian Army will be receiving more than $50 million to arm its Boxer reconnaissance vehicles with Spike Long-Range 2 anti-tank guided missiles. The Spike, with a range of more than five kilometers, is built by Varley Rafael Australia, a joint venture between the oldest defense company in the country and Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
Part of this announcement bears on the continuing struggle by Australia to beef up its sovereign manufacturing and support capabilities, in this case through its Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordinance Enterprise, managed by Lockheed Martin Australia and Raytheon Australia. For example, Varley Rafael Australia will recommend how Australia could build its own Spike missiles here.
“We are buying these weapons now to deliver capability quickly — but we are also considering options to manufacture missiles domestically because of the importance of building sovereign Australian defense manufacturing capabilities,” Conroy said in a statement.
