The Australian government has moved to accelerate the creation of a A$1 billion domestic missile production enterprise, suggesting a growing confidence that Australia can secure the agreement of the Biden administration to share US-owned missile technology to manufacture weapons outside the country.
The project would be a step towards the aim of having Australia producing complex guided weapons for the ADF, the United States and other regional partners, and would allow stockpiles to be developed in case of a major conflict.
In an interview with The Australian, USSC Director of Foreign Policy and Defence Ashley Townshend said Australia needed to overcome political and industrial resilience in the US to sharing the nation's most tightly-held military secrets.
“If the US is serious about empowering regional allies like Australia to play a larger role in upholding an Indo-Pacific balance of power, then it must support technology transfer and intellectual property rule changes that enable Australia to assume this role,” Mr Townshend said.