Page 42 - Australian Defence Magazine April-May 2021

42 SEA POWER MISSILES
APRIL-MAY 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
LET THERE BE MISSILES
The RAN is to benefit from a $1 billion investment in the early development of advanced maritime guided weapons, but Minister for Defence Linda Reynold’s announcement was short of some detail on what the proposed expenditure will involve, and when.
JULIAN KERR | SYDNEY
ACCORDING to Reynolds, the commitment “will modernise the Navy’s platforms to project and maintain sea control.
“The project will provide Navy with leading- edge long-range anti-ship missiles, extended range surface-to-air missiles, advanced light- weight torpedoes, and maritime land strike ca- pabilities,” she said in a 25 January statement.
The $1 billion investment is actually part of Project Sea 1300 (Navy Guided Weapons). This encompasses several previous projects and is part of the government’s $16.1-$24.2 billion investment in maritime guided weapons over the next two decades that was foreshadowed by the 2020 Defence Strategic Update and Force Structure Plan.
Reynold’s announcement specifically men- tioned continued investment only in devel- opment of the Evolved Sea Sparrow (ESSM) Block II; the SM-2 Block IIIC; and the SM-6 Block 1 maritime surface to air missile systems (although the latter also has a valuable anti- ship capability).
The $1 billion referenced in the announce- ment is understood to cover the next stage of development for these weapons, but not the cost of any acquisition.
Although the release also disclosed the proposed purchase of anti-ship missiles with a range of more than 370 kikometres and maritime land-attack missiles with a range in excess of 1,500 kilometres, no further details were given.
A Ministerial spokesperson told ADM that references to required capabilities rather than to specific weapon systems meant discussions were still underway on the solutions best meeting Australia’s operational requirements and supply chain involvement.
LEFT: Planning for the next generation of naval missiles is well underway.
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