KEY POINTS
- The Australian government will spend more than $1 billion on new missiles.
- Land missiles were used to devastating effect by Ukrainian forces.
- Both Army and Navy will receive a capability boost.
Australia's military will be able to strike enemies from a much greater distance, after the defence force sealed a deal for "cutting edge" missiles used to devastating effect against Russian troops in Ukraine.
The federal government on Thursday announced a $1 billion deal, giving both the Army and Navy modern missile technology to ward off threats in an increasingly volatile reason.
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy says the announcement is "the greatest expansion in the land strike capability for the Australian Army in living memory, if not ever".
"The rapid acquisition of this capability reflects the strategic uncertainty that we face and the lessons of the conflict in Ukraine. This is a critical capability for the Australian Defence Force," he said.
And one leading analyst claims the new capabilities, announced on Thursday, are designed with one potential aggressor in mind.
Here's what you need to know.
What's been announced?
Defence will roll out truck-mounted High Mobility Artillery Rockets [HIMARS] from 2026-27, providing the military with the longest range surface-to-surface missiles in its history.
The Navy will also receive an upgrade, with the government signing a deal for Norwegian-made Naval Strike Missiles on its fleet from next year.
"The NSM contains leading-edge technology that will provide Royal Australian Navy ships with a powerful maritime strike capability," it said.
High Mobility Rocket Artillery Systems being tested in Queensland in 2021. Credit: WO2 Max Bree
Why is Australia buying them?
To adapt to the demands of modern warfare. Australia's army currently has no long-range missile capabilities, while Labor describes its current naval missile capability as "ageing".
But it claims the deals will take Australia's capabilities to the "cutting edge" of modern warfare, Defence Minister Richard Marles insisting Australia needs state-of-the-art weapons in a time of increasing uncertainty.
“In the current strategic environment, it’s important the Australian Defence Force is equipped with high-end, targeted military capabilities," he said.
Graph showing spending on defence in the October budget.
He warned the threat of a conflict, potentially over Taiwan or the South China Sea, is as high as it's been in seven decades.
"The only way that's going to be prevented is if we have sufficiently strong militaries to deter potential aggressors. And yes, I'm talking about China. That's the country that everyone is concerned about," he said.
What can they do?
Launch from increasingly large distances. HIMARS currently have a range of 300km, but Mr Conroy says that will develop at least 500km as technology develops.
Mr Jennings said modern armies require weapons that can target an enemy "way over the horizon".
"We're in a world where you will probably never see your enemy ... If you look at the Ukrainian war, it's the countries which have long-range which and are dominating that battle space. So it's a direction where our army needs to go," he said.
Defence Minister Richard Marles says the technology will provide "cutting edge" capabilities. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
"It could be in defence of Australia with an enemy coming towards the continent, or it could be where we've deployed somewhere in Asia ... It's really impossible to say with any certainty, what the future of that might look like," he said.
The Russian military has certainly felt the effects of the system's defensive capabilities.
Moscow confirmed at least 63 Russian soldiers died on New Year's Day, when HIMARS rockets struck a military base in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. The true death toll is disputed, the Kremlin dismissing Ukrainian claims the strikes killed 400 Russian soldiers.
Are they worth the money?
Experts are divided on that.
While Mr Jennings welcomes the announcement as "long overdue" investment" in Australia's miliary capabilities, former Defence director of Preparedness and Mobilisation Cheryl Durrant is less than convinced.
Ms Durrant dismissed comparisons to the Ukraine conflict given Australia’s size and island-status, saying the missiles were not "money well spent".
“500 kilometres sounds a lot, and it is if you’re next door to each other like Ukraine and Russia. But it isn’t a long range in terms of the distances required for an adversary to move towards and launch a land based attack on Australia,” she said.
“This would really only be useful if an adversary was landing in Australia which means our air force and navy were potentially already defeated – or if Australia was part of a coalition fighting a land-based war somewhere else.
“Really we should be trying to stop that happening in the first place, by investing in deterrence and multi-national peacebuilding operations.”
