US, Australia announce efforts to boost munition production

The U.S. and Australia on Tuesday announced a new collaborative effort to ramp up production of key munitions as the allies strengthen a pact focused on deterring China in the Indo-Pacific.

The countries will work together to manufacture Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS), which fire surface-to-surface rockets, and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSMs), which are a type of long-range precision-strike missile, for Australia’s acquisition.

Washington and Canberra are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding by the end of the year to co-produce the weapons, and they will create a joint program office in early 2025 to help oversee the efforts.

At a Tuesday press conference in Annapolis, Md., Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles lauded the efforts as a sign of strengthening ties between their nations.

Austin said the U.S. was “pursuing different initiatives with each of our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific.”

“And all of that work, all of that vital work, builds greater peace, stability and deterrence across the region,” he said in opening remarks.

Marles said the efforts to co-manufacture GMLRS and PrSMs underscored a “much closer working of our defense industry bases.”

“This is going to give enormous opportunities for Australian companies to participate and contribute to the supply chain here in the United States,” he said at the press conference. “And as part of this, we’re seeing a much greater cooperation between our two defense innovation systems.”

The agreements reached this week also include enhancing force posture, including more rotations of U.S. forces in Australia and longer-term operating locations in the country for American troops.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong also joined the meeting in Annapolis on Tuesday.

The meeting follows a historic 2021 pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the U.S., called AUKUS, that aims to deliver nuclear-powered submarines to Canberra. Another pillar of AUKUS includes cooperation on advanced technologies.

And under the Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment, the U.S. and Australia are pushing to develop an air-launched hypersonic weapon. The U.S. has yet to field a true hypersonic missile, though China and Russia have both deployed the weapons that can fly at Mach 5 or faster.

The U.S. has been shoring up support and strengthening alliances across the Indo-Pacific as tensions rise with China in the region.

Last week, Austin and Blinken concluded a trip to Japan and the Philippines that saw major new advancements with both Pacific nations.

A U.S. defense official said Australia will also work more closely on joint exercises and training, including with other allies like Japan and the Philippines.

“We will be talking over the next couple days about the ways … in which Japan can integrate further into U.S. force posture in Australia,” the official said, adding they would also talk about including the Philippines in the mix. “We are aiming for a more regular and consistent series of cooperative, maritime cooperative activities. And I think you’ll be seeing that in the near term.”