US approves deal for Tomahawk missile supports

Australia has moved a step closer to obtaining potent US-made Tomahawk missiles, gaining approval to purchase $372m in support systems to enable the ADF to operate the weapons.

A Tomahawk cruise missile is launched from the nuclear-powered attack submarine USS La Jolla on the Pacific Missile Test Centre range.

Australia has moved a step closer to obtaining potent US-made Tomahawk missiles, getting the green light from the Biden administration to purchase $372m in support systems to enable the ADF to operate the weapons.

The US Defence Co-operation Agency said the systems would enable the Australian Defence Force to precisely aim the missiles, which have a range of more than 1500km.

The US approved the sale of 220 Tomahawks to Australia in March at a cost of more than $1.3bn, but there is no word yet on when they will be delivered and be made operational.

Australia will have to get in line behind the US military and potentially Japan, which has ordered 400 of the missiles and would be more likely to use them in any war with China over Taiwan.

The weapons will be fitted to Australia’s air warfare destroyers and potentially the Collins-class submarines.

The announcement comes less than a month after Australia declined to send a warship to join a US-led coalition in the Red Sea, and follows US congress approval of AUKUS-enabling legislation.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said the approval of technical support for Australia’s Tomahawks was “an essential step forward for Australia’s development of advanced military capabilities”.

“This program will enhance the lethality of our navy’s surface combatant fleet and increase interchangeability with the United States Navy, improving the effectiveness of our joint warfighting capabilities and providing an increased deterrent effect,” Mr Conroy said.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy with 11 Squadron commanding officer, Wing Commander Adam Saber, at RAAF Fairbairn in Canberra. Picture: Defence

Former Defence deputy secretary Peter Jennings said the latest spending was “vital” to ensure the missiles were able to hit their targets.

But he said Labor had fallen into the Coalition’s trap of “failing to appreciate the need for speed” in Defence procurement.

“In the best of all worlds, we would be licensing the production of Tomahawks in Australia,” he said. “But I’m sure we haven’t done that and probably won’t do it.”

He said the Defence Department was “utterly disconnected from the strategic outlook”, and “failing to get ministerial or prime ministerial leadership” it needed to respond to growing strategic threats.

Greens senator David Shoebridge said the missile support purchase was “a very expensive admission from the ADF that we don’t have an independent capacity to target this incredibly expensive weapons system”.

“This is confirmation of what many observers have already suspected, that none of the ADF’s Tomahawk missiles can be effectively targeted or deployed without the express consent and co-operation of the US,” he said.