Plan to bring Russia-busting HIMARS missiles to the NT
The Territory government has begun talks with the Commonwealth around options for missile deployment in the NT. Read where they could go and have a crack at the poll.
Northern Territory
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The Territory government has begun discussions with the Defence Department about the possible deployment of long range missiles in the Top End following the release of the Defence Strategic Review.
Speaking at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast in Darwin this week, NT Major Projects Commissioner Jason Schoolmeester said the government had begun talks with the commonwealth about potential locations for the rollout of Defence infrastructure in the NT.
“We’re meeting with defence to try to find what their needs are, what the requirements are to help them locate them in the Territory in the right spots,” Mr Schoolmeester said.
“Certainly Darwin Harbour, in terms of what they’re looking for with the army littoral manoeuvre options, and so we are helping defence with what options exist around Darwin Harbour for that. The Territory could also support storage and logistics for guided weapons and explosive ordinance (GWEO).
The Territory could also support storage and logistics for guided weapons and explosive ordinance.
“I think we’ve got to understand what the requirements are but clearly you’re going to project to the north and have those things stored in the north somewhere around the location required.
“At the moment it’s still early days, but we want to understand what the requirement might be and it might best fit in the Territory.”
The army littoral manoeuvre involves the introduction of next-generation landing craft and an amphibious vehicle as part of 1st Brigade’s transition to an amphibious fighting force.
Mr Schoolmeester said as well as amphibious craft, the Territory could also host guided weapons and explosive ordinance systems.
“I won’t go into details about what might be expected because there’s a process for that to follow and it’s very early days,” he said.
“At the moment it’s still early days but we want to understand what the requirement might be and it might best fit in the Territory.”
Glenn Brown, Deloitte risk assurance principal and fellow with the Royal Aeronautical Society, who also spoke at the breakfast, said modern missile systems needed to be located near to what they protect.
“The missile systems they’re talking about are largely mobile and so they’ll be movable but fundamentally you want to have them in a position to protect the bases to protect cities so you put them where they’re needed, but they’re mobile.”
Responding to an audience question about whether the Territory is at greater risk of attack because of its proximity to possible bellicose players like China, Mr Brown said advanced, modern-day weaponry meant nobody was safe.
“In the days of hypersonic weapons which are present now, everything in Australia’s in range. It just means (Darwin’s) closer.”
Announced as part of the Defence Strategic Review released in April, Canberra plans to spend $4.1bn to acquire more long-range strike systems and a missile manufacturing capacity.
Its shopping list includes $1.6bn for long-range strike capabilities including speeding-up the delivery of extra high mobility artillery rocket systems — HIMARS — and the precision strike missiles — PRISM.
It’s hoping the HIMARS, which have a range of up to 300km, will be in place by 2026-27, providing the ADF with an enhanced amphibious capability.
Appropriate strategic locations for the infrastructure are now being sought.
The HIMARS, which are transportable and mobile, have been used successfully by the Ukrainian military in its war with Russia.
Defence also plans to spend $2.5bn for guided weapons and explosive ordnance enterprise as part of its proposed $19bn commitment over the next five years to meeting the review’s priorities.
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Originally published as Plan to bring Russia-busting HIMARS missiles to the NT
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