The Australian and US governments should jointly prioritise three areas in the development and mass production of advanced offensive and defensive missilery to contend with today’s strategic environment reshaped by the recent conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, a new brief from the United States Studies Centre (USSC) at the University of Sydney argues.
In US-Australia relations and the future of missilery: Long-range strike, missile defence and export controls, Dr Tom Karako, Director of the Missile Defense Project and Senior Fellow with the Defense and Security Department at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, notes that the current production rate for air and missile defence capabilities is insufficient to meet the demands of today’s new "missile age."
“The Australia-US relationship is deep and enduring, yet today’s strategic environment highlights the necessity of bolstering our shared air and missile defence capabilities,” said USSC Foreign Policy and Defence Director Dr Lavina Lee. “This brief provides critical insights required to achieve that integration.”
The brief finds that the United States and Australia can level up missile defence through greater cooperation in areas such as hypersonic testing at the Woomera range complex and bolstering Australia’s domestic Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance production capabilities. However, the brief also notes that cooperation is currently hindered by “burdensome” Cold War-era export controls. The US interpretation of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) often places close allies on the same legal footing as potential adversaries regarding technology transfers.
Prioritising long-term targeted investments in Australia’s domestic production capabilities and aligning operational cooperation and calls for reforms to the MTCR to enhance cooperation on missile production will be necessary to ensure a competitive advantage for both the United States and Australia, according to the brief.
“Investing in Australia’s domestic missile production is a critical step in derisking the global supply chain in a contested environment such as the one we are now facing,” concluded Dr Lee.
Key recommendations
Lines of effort for improved US-Australia alliance missile cooperation should include:
- Investment in long-range strike and missile defence production, including for a wider range of mutual priority systems locally in Australia.
- Cooperation on missile development, including testing, battle management, and air and cruise missile tracking.
- Sustained attention to a further reform agenda for US MTCR policy settings to facilitate cooperation on the above.
US-Australia relations and the future of missilery: Long-range strike, missile defence and export controls is now available to view and download.