Peter Dutton, Australia's then home minister (center), speaks to the media in Colombo on June 4, 2019. (PHOTO / AFP)
Australia is liaising with its US ally to accelerate a A$1 billion (US$761 million) program designed to create a sovereign guided-missile program.
“We will work closely with the United States on this important initiative to ensure that we understand how our enterprise can best support both Australia’s needs and the growing needs of our most important military partner,” Defence Minister Peter Dutton said in a statement Wednesday.
We will work closely with the United States on this important initiative to ensure that we understand how our enterprise can best support both Australia’s needs and the growing needs of our most important military partner
Peter Dutton, Australia's defence minister
The announcement came after Australia and the US in November signed an agreement to develop and test hypersonic cruise missile prototypes, with long-range strike capabilities. The deal is under the nations’ 15-year Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment (SCIFiRE) program, which studies hypersonic scramjets, rocket motors, sensors, and advanced manufacturing materials.
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Dutton’s department is selecting a strategic industry partner to operate the missile program’s manufacturing capability, which could lead to export opportunities, he said. Wednesday’s statement, which didn’t directly link the sovereign guided-missile program with November’s hypersonic cruise missile program announcement, cited estimates by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think tank that Australia would spend A$100 billion in the next 20 years on missile and guided-weapons purchases.
The Nikkei Asian Review reported in August that the US has intended to discuss deploying medium-range missiles with its Asian allies. It cited Marshall Billingslea, US special presidential envoy for arms control, as saying that a medium-range, non-nuclear, ground-launched cruise missile under development in the US had the defensive capability that countries such as Japan will need.
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Japan’s defense ministry took steps toward a greater strike capability in 2017, when it allocated 2.2 billion yen (US$20 million) for an air-to-surface Joint Strike Missile. The fiscal year 2020 budget allocated 13.6 billion yen more for the cruise missiles, which can be mounted on F-35s.