Australia Accelerates Guided Missile Development Program
A Raytheon rocket launch in Australia. Source.
On March 31, the Australian government announced that it would be accelerating its plan to invest $1 billion in the nation’s first domestic guided missile and missile system. The Morrison government pledged to work with the U.S. to “understand how our enterprise can best support both Australia’s needs and the growing needs of our most important military partner.” Michael Shoebridge, a former member of two intelligence agencies and policy representative on behalf of the Australian government, summed up the government's reasoning succinctly: “It’s being driven by the two Cs, China and COVID.”
The initial press conference that announced Australia’s Defense Strategic Update from June 2020 provided deeper insights into the government's reasoning and view of the strategic environment. Prime Minister Scott Morrison specifically and clearly cited growing Chinese investment and encroachment in the Indo-Pacific and broader regional tension as one of the primary reasons for the defense decisions generally saying:
“The Indo-Pacific is the epicenter of rising strategic competition…Tensions over territorial claims are rising across the Indo-Pacific region as we have seen recently on the disputed border between India and China, in the South China Sea, in the East China Sea. The risk of miscalculation and even conflict is heightening. Regional military modernization is occurring at an unprecedented rate. Capabilities and reach are expanding. Previous assumptions of enduring advantage and technological edge are no longer constants and cannot be relied upon. Coercive activities arrive, disinformation and foreign interference have been enabled and accelerated by new and emerging technologies.”
Earlier in March, the leaders of the United States, India, Australia and Japan (jointly known as the ‘Quad’) met virtually—the first time the top leaders had met since the Quads founding. The Quad has been seen as a sort of informal ‘Asian NATO’ to build security and cooperation in light of growing Chinese political, economic and military power. In November, four nations participated in a joint naval exercise, the first time Australia joined since 2007.
In the official statement announcing the acceleration, Prime Minister Scott Morrison cited the lesson on self-reliance learned from COVID-19. Australia currently possesses guided weapons systems that were produced and sold by other Western powers, but does not currently have the domestic capability. However, as global supply chains were complicated by COVID and as China could use its control over various aspects of the supply chain, Australia sees increasing its self-reliance as a necessary step to ensure that in a crisis they could defend or deter for themselves. Furthermore, the experience of “vaccine nationalism” Shoebridge voiced concerns of a sort of “missile nationalism.”
As Chinese aggression, military development, and human rights abuses continue and accelerate these four countries in particular will continue to look for ways to counterbalance China together and as individual nations. Both the announcement of the initial plan in 2020 and the acceleration announcement in 2021 were careful to include statements affirming its willingness and dedication to cooperation with its crucial allies. Australia’s decision to accelerate its guided missile program is just one facet of an increasingly important broader strategy to counteract Beijing’s ambitions.