Australia will boost its missile defense and long-range strike capability as the Asia Pacific region enters the “missile age”.

Australia will boost its missile defense capability after China’s test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the South Pacific raised “significant concerns” and as the Asia Pacific region enters a “missile age”.

Australia plans to boost its missile defense and long-range strike capability and will cooperate with security partners the US, Japan and South Korea on regional stability issues, the country’s Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said on Wednesday in a speech

“Why do we need more missiles? The strategic competition between the United States and China is a primary feature of Australia’s security environment,” Conroy told the National Press Club in Canberra.

“This competition is strongest in our Indo-Pacific region,” he said.

Conroy said the region is on the brink of a new missile era, where missiles are also “instruments of coercion.”

He also pointed to China’s test-fire of an ICBM in September that traveled more than 11,000 km (more than 6,835 miles) to land in the Pacific Ocean northeast of Australia.

“We have expressed significant concern about this ballistic missile test, particularly its entry into the South Pacific, given the Rarotonga Treaty, which says the Pacific should be a nuclear-weapon-free zone,” he said. he told reporters in response to a question.

Australia will deploy SM-6 missiles on its navy destroyer fleet to provide ballistic missile defense, he added.

Australia is among several nations in the Asia Pacific to dramatically increase defense spending.

In April, Australia unveiled a defense strategy that called for a sharp increase in spending to counter its vulnerability to enemies who disrupt trade or block access to vital air and sea routes.

In addition to rapidly developing its surface fleet, Australia plans to deploy nuclear-powered stealth submarines in a tripartite agreement with the United States and Britain known as AUKUS.

Earlier this month, Australia announced a A$7 billion ($4.58 billion) deal with the US to purchase SM-2 IIIC and Raytheon SM-6 long-range missiles for its navy.

Australia previously said it would spend A$74 billion ($49 billion) on missile procurement and missile defense over the next decade, including A$21 billion ($13.7 billion) to fund the Australian Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise, a new domestic production. capacity.

“We must show potential adversaries that hostile acts against Australia would not succeed and could not be sustained if the conflict were prolonged,” Conroy said in the speech.

“In a world marked by supply chain disruptions and strategic fragility, Australia must not just acquire more missiles, but do more here at home,” he added.

Australia will spend A$316 million ($206 million) to establish local production of guided multiple launch rocket systems (GMLRS), in partnership with Lockheed Martin, to produce the surface-to-surface weapons that they can rapidly deploy for export starting in 2029. The plant will be capable of producing 4,000 GMLRS a year, or a quarter of current global production, Conroy said.

France’s Thales will also establish Australian production of the M795 155mm artillery ammunition used in howitzers at an Australian government-owned ammunition facility in the small Victorian town of Benalla. It will be the first dedicated forge outside the US, with production starting in 2028 and the ability to expand to produce 100,000 rounds per year.

In August, Australia announced it would jointly produce long-range Naval Strike missiles and Joint Strike missiles with Norway’s Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace in the city of Newcastle on Australia’s east coast, the only site outside Norway.