Defence Minister declares Australia ‘underestimated’ speed of change for global threats
Hypersonic weapons are just one of the terrifying new threats facing Australia as the Defence Minister flags an industry step-up that could lead to more work for SA.
SA News
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South Australia will be at the heart of a defence industry step-up as Australia faces terrifying new threats such as “unstoppable” hypersonic weapons which will slash response times to incoming attacks to “mere minutes”.
Defence Minister Linda Reynolds will say the nation’s defence capabilities must evolve to meet these new threats as she acknowledges today Australia “underestimated” how fast the world would change in a landmark Defence White Paper three years ago.
China’s relationship with the United States and threats from space and the cyber realm have changed “more quickly than we assessed in 2016,” Ms Reynolds will tell the navy’s Sea Power conference in Sydney.
The threat of terrorism, challenges to the rules-based global order, and military “modernisation” have also changed faster than expected.
Defence is undertaking an urgent review of the strategic threats considered in the white paper, to be handed to government early next year, the minister will say.
She has also flagged Australia’s navy workforce will need to grow because “we cannot afford to stop deployments or operations to transition to new capabilities”.
It comes as Premier Steven Marshall heads to an international defence industry expo in Sydney today to promote SA as the shipbuilding capital of Australia.
China, Russia, the US and France are currently developing hypersonic weapons that will fly five times faster than the speed of sound, making them difficult to track or defeat.
Australia has also conducted hypersonic test flights with US Air Force researchers at a test site near Woomera in regional SA.
Experts say hypersonic weapons could be used to carry nuclear or conventional warheads.
“If perfected, these weapons will provide an adversary the ability to attack ships from a great distance with a weapon that is unstoppable with current defence systems,” Ms Reynolds will say today.
“Rail guns on ships are another potential game changing technology.
“The first navy to regularly deploy a rail gun on its vessels will be able to engage adversaries from a much greater distance.”
Ms Reynolds will flag the need for a strong local defence industry, saying Australia will need a bigger fleet in future.
She will highlight the need for technology to evolve during shipbuilding projects, such as Naval Group’s $35 billion contract to build 12 Attack Class submarines at the Osborne shipyard.
“Submarine number 12 will be a different vessel to the first of class,” Ms Reynolds will say.
She will also say Australia is investing $90 billion in a new naval capability “because we must” as the region goes through “the most significant geopolitical change since the Second World War”.
Premier Marshall said SA was “now unquestionably the centre of naval shipbuilding in Australia” head of his trip to Sydney today.
“Pacific 2019 presents the perfect opportunity for South Australian businesses to forge relationships with others across the defence sector from around the world, strengthening the opportunities for collaboration in the future,” he said.
More than 50 SA companies and education institutes will be on show at the expo this year, making it the state’s largest contingent to ever attend.