US, Australia take first step towards missile, rocket deal

Australia and the US have taken the first step towards a major missile and rocket project, as Australian manufacturing will get a lift as part of the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal.

The US and Australia are one step closer to co-producing a stockpile of missiles and rockets.

Exclusive: Australia and the United States have taken the first step toward co-producing a stockpile of missiles and rockets, with high-level talks underway to see assembly start by 2025.

The move ends years of inaction on the sovereign missile program, first announced by the Morrison government in 2020.

And in what will be also be a significant lift for Australian manufacturing, the government has also announced Australian-made steel will be used in the construction of AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines.

It’s a huge win for Bisalloy Steel in Wollongong on the NSW south coast with potential their product could be used on submarines being produced also for the US and British production line.

The contract signing on Friday begins the qualification process involving 4500 tests expected to be completed also in 2025.

Until now, only South Australia and WA had been nominated as the big winners from the SSN-AUKUS subs production program.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy and chief of guided weapons and explosive ordnance Air Marshall Leon Phillips on Saturday flew to the US to discuss both developments but particularly map out the plan for the joint missile production program.

They are visiting the Lockheed Martin missile plant in Alabama and spending four days in Washington for map out how the program could work.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has given a sense of urgency around building assembly plants in both the US and Australia to expand the military industrial base of allies.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“The lessons from the Ukraine conflict and the interruptions to supply chains from Covid demonstrated that we need the ability to increase our war stock but also be able to manufacture certain missiles in this country otherwise our sovereignty is lessened,” Mr Conroy said as he flew out.

“The US have been grappling for a number of years with their own supply chain constraints and have been trying to ramp up their production to supply for example 155mm ammunition shells to the Ukrainian conflict because they’re being consumed up to 20,000 a day which is equivalent to a month’s production in Europe.

“So they’re really focused on solving their own supply chain constraints but also working on how to grow the industrial base of their allies.”

U.S. medium range self-propelled anti-aircraft missiles MIM-23 Hawk. The US and Australia have just taken the first step towards co-producing a stockpile of missiles and rockets.

The trip is the first step toward establishing guided weapons co-production assemblies after the President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese issued a joint communique earlier this year endorsing the move off the back of the AUKUS pact.

The HIMAR missiles that have seen great success in Ukraine will be the first type to be produced, in Mulwala in NSW and Benalla in Victoria but also potentially in Queensland.

Mr Conroy said the government was determined to produce 155mm ammunition in Australia “from tip to tail”.

The US and Australia have over the years moving toward integrating their militaries toward full interoperability of weapons, tactics and hardware.

On the Bisalloy contract, Mr Conroy said it will see significant investment for the Illawarra.

“Crucially, this contract will support jobs in an industry which is not only of strategic importance but also a source of innovation and employment, and which has long been a part of the Australian fabric,” he said.