Australia to boost missile stockpiles, citing China’s ICBM test

The Indo-Pacific region is on the cusp of a new missile age, Australia’s defence industry minister said, vowing more domestic production

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Missiles are fired from US military Himars launchers at a firing range in northern Australia during joint drills last year. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:26am, 30 Oct 2024Updated: 3:04pm, 30 Oct 2024

Australia said it was boosting its missile defence capability amid “significant concerns” about China’s test of an ICBM in the South Pacific, and will bolster weapons stockpiles and exports to security partners as the region enters a new “missile age”.

Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said in a speech on Wednesday that Australia was increasing its missile defence and long-range strike capability, and would cooperate with security partners the US, Japan and South Korea, to contribute to regional stability.

“Why do we need more missiles? Strategic competition between the United States and China is a primary feature of Australia’s security environment,” he told the National Press Club in Canberra.

China test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile in September that travelled more than 11,000km (6,835 miles) to land in the Pacific Ocean to Australia’s northeast.

Conroy said the Indo-Pacific was on the cusp of a new missile age, where missiles are also “tools of coercion”.

“We expressed significant concern about that ballistic missile test, especially its entry into the South Pacific given the Treaty of Rarotonga that says the Pacific should be a nuclear weapons free zone,” he told reporters in response to a question.