Sydney: Australia will ramp up missile manufacturing under a plan unveiled Wednesday by a top defense official, who said bolstering weapons stockpiles would help keep would-be foes at bay.
Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said Australia would establish a homegrown industry to produce long-range guided missiles and other much-needed munitions.
“Why do we need more missiles? Strategic competition between the United States and China is a primary feature of Australia’s security environment,” he said in a speech.
“That competition is at its sharpest in our region, the Indo-Pacific.”
Australia will partner with US-based weapons giant Lockheed Martin to make “guided multiple launch rocket systems (GMLRS),” Conroy said, one of the first such facilities outside the United States.
The $200 million “advanced weapons manufacturing complex” would eventually produce up to 4,000 missiles each year.
“This equates to more than a quarter of current global GMLRS production and more than 10 times current Australian Defense Force demand,” Conroy said.
Australia had also contracted French weapons maker Thales to domestically manufacture M795 artillery rounds, which are commonly used in howitzer batteries.
“We all wish that acquiring new weapons and munitions was not necessary,” Conroy said.
“But in a world marked by crisis and disorder, a well-equipped military is an essential part of national defense.
“In this environment, Australia needs credible military capability to support a strategy of deterrence by denial.”
The announcement follows China’s recent test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile in the Pacific, the first such test in four decades.
Concerns about China’s massive defense spending and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have led many US allies to voice concern about a shortfall in munitions manufacturing capabilities.
Australia is among several Asia-Pacific nations dramatically increasing defense spending.
In April, Australia unveiled a defense strategy that envisaged a sharp rise in spending to counter its vulnerability to foes interrupting trade or preventing access to vital air and sea routes.
Besides rapidly developing its surface fleet, Australia plans to deploy stealthy nuclear-powered submarines in a tripartite agreement with the United States and Britain known as AUKUS.
Australia launches plan to build long-range guided missiles
https://arab.news/mxz3s
Australia launches plan to build long-range guided missiles
- Australia will partner with US-based weapons giant Lockheed Martin to make “guided multiple launch rocket systems (GMLRS),”
Indonesia reaffirms Yemen’s territorial integrity, backs stability efforts amid tensions
- Statement comes after Saudi Arabia bombed a UAE weapons shipment at Yemeni port city
- Jakarta last week said it ‘appreciates’ Riyadh ‘working together’ with Yemen to restore stability
JAKARTA: Indonesia has called for respect for Yemen’s territorial integrity and commended efforts to maintain stability in the region, a day after Saudi Arabia bombed a weapons shipment from the UAE at a Yemeni port city that Riyadh said was intended for separatist forces.
Saudi Arabia carried out a “limited airstrike” at Yemen’s port city of Al-Mukalla in the southern province of Hadramout on Tuesday, following the arrival of an Emirati shipment that came amid heightened tensions linked to advances by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council in the war-torn country.
In a statement issued late on Wednesday, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “appreciates further efforts by concerned parties to maintain stability and security,” particularly in the provinces of Hadramout and Al-Mahara.
“Indonesia reaffirms the importance of peaceful settlement through an inclusive and comprehensive political dialogue under the coordination of the United Nations and respecting Yemen’s legitimate government and territorial integrity,” Indonesia’s foreign affairs ministry said.
The latest statement comes after Jakarta said last week that it “appreciates the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as other relevant countries, working together with Yemeni stakeholders to de-escalate tensions and restore stability.”
Saudi Arabia leads the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, which includes the UAE and was established in 2015 to combat the Houthi rebels, who control most of northern Yemen.
Riyadh has been calling on the STC, which initially supported Yemen’s internationally recognized government against the Houthi rebels, to withdraw after it launched an offensive against the Saudi-backed government troops last month, seeking an independent state in the south.
Indonesia has also urged for “all parties to exercise restraint and avoid unilateral action that could impact security conditions,” and has previously said that the rising tensions in Yemen could “further deteriorate the security situation and exacerbate the suffering” of the Yemeni people.
Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country, maintains close ties with both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which are its main trade and investment partners in the Middle East.
