Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy confirms a deal to buy medium and long-range American missiles amid what he calls 'the greatest arms race in our region since 1945'.
It follows last year's review of Australia 's defences, which found the nation was unprepared for the "missile age".The federal government will spend $7 billion acquiring medium and long-range missiles for the Australia n Navy from the United States.
"We live in the greatest arms race in our region since 1945, with a high degree of strategic uncertainty," Mr Conroy said during a visit to Washington DC. However, he would not provide any detail on when the missiles would be delivered, other than to say they would be "progressively deployed" across the Navy's Hobart-class destroyers.Defence's chief of guided weapons and explosive ordnance, Air Marshal Leon Phillips, said the $7 billion spend was part of a near $30 billion allocation for international "off the shelf" acquisitions.
Usa America Australia Agreement Long-Range Missiles Standard Missile 2 Block IIIC SM-2 IIIC SM-6 Air Defence Munitions Weapons Lockheed Martin Raytheon
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