Russia’s war in Ukraine shows Australia needs the capacity to build up its own missile and ammunition stockpiles at home as global security deteriorates, the defence industry minister says.

Australia will push to domestically manufacture missiles and munitions at scale from 2025 in a move that will create more than 1000 jobs, Pat Conroy said while releasing the military’s guided weapons and explosive ordnance plan.

The federal government will partner with Lockheed Martin and lay down $316 million to build a weapons manufacturing plant able to produce 4000 guided, multiple-launch rocket systems each year, starting later in the decade.

It will work with Thales to manufacture 155mm artillery shells at a Commonwealth-owned facility in Benalla, Victoria, that will produce 15,000 rounds a year by 2028 and can scale up to 100,000 annually.

It’s also working on options to manufacture rocket motors domestically, with $22 million set aside over three years.

Increasing long-range strike power would be the cornerstone to the military’s ability to deter potential adversaries deeper into the Pacific, Mr Conroy said.

The US-China rivalry was the sharpest in the Indo-Pacific and a primary consideration for Australia’s security, he said, with the region on the “cusp of a new missile age”.

“These weapons are increasing in numbers, speed, range and precision,” he said in an address to the National Press Club on Wednesday.

“But there can be protracted lead times for securing these weapons, global production capacity is limited and cannot surge quickly.”

Australia had become reliant on imports as it didn’t manufacture its own weapons, Mr Conroy said.

Seven year’s worth of anti-tank missiles were used in the first month of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and 10,000 artillery shells used on a single day equated to a month of European production, he said.

“When it comes to munitions, the global shelves are not being restocked as quickly as we would like,” he said.

“That’s why we need to make and maintain guided weapons and explosive ordnance in Australia, this will make us more self-reliant, and more resistant to coercion.”

More than $70 billion over the decade has been set aside for ranged weapons, missile defences and associated capabilities as part of the plan to deter potential adversaries from attacking Australia.

This includes a manufacturing facility for 155mm artillery ammunition, which is used by Australia, the United States and other partners who operate a light towed howitzer.

A shift to long-range strike capabilities means a revamped navy fleet will be able to hit targets more than 2500km away, the army 1000km and the air force 900km.

More than 200 Tomahawk cruise missiles are being purchased for the navy’s Hobart class destroyer and will be onboard by the end of 2024 while equipping the Hunter class frigates with this weapon is being reviewed.

 

Dominic Giannini
(Australian Associated Press)