Australia steps into the arms race with global missile production as new weapons factory boosts defence

A sleepy town about 100km north of Adelaide is about to take its place at the centre of Australia’s plan to catch up to advanced missile development, one of the most important developments in arms this decade.

US arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin today opened a factory in Port Wakefield, population 600, that will assemble missiles for the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, a weapon that has emerged as one of the stars of the war in Ukraine.

From blowing up bridges to destroying artillery, the ground-launched missiles are celebrated for their accuracy and large warheads that have hit Russian forces up to 90km from the front. Fired from trucks, they can relocate quickly after firing to avoid being hit by what is known as counter-battery fire.

Lockheed Martin has never previously allowed the missiles to be made outside of a factory in Texas, although it is working with German armaments manufacturer Rheinmetall to give Europe access to the missiles too.

To get around a global shortage, Australia decided to open a factory in Port Wakefield capable of turning American components into the 300 missiles needed each year by the Australian Army.

“With the Ukraine conflict there is more demand than supply,” Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy told The Nightly. “If you didn’t want to be at the back of the queue, you are building these factories.”

Criticism

By the end of the decade a larger factory may be opened on the site to assemble 4000 of the missiles each year, of which more than 90 per cent will likely be sold to the US and other Western allies.

Construction of the larger Australian Weapons Manufacturing Complex would make Australia a player in the global supply of modern missiles.

Some military analysts say the government relies too much on the US and should be designing many different types of missiles today.

“Other nations show what is possible in designing and making missiles and drones,” Defence analyst Michael Shoebridge told The Nightly.

“The Ukrainians, Iranians, Israelis, the Turks and even the Houthis are obvious examples who skipped the crawl and walk stages and are simply running.”

Port Wakefield was not the Defence Department’s first choice. The factory was going to be built at a munitions storage base at Orchard Hills near Penrith in Western Sydney until officials decided the warheads posed too great a risk to nearby residents.

Hypersonic ambition

Another factory is being built near Newcastle in NSW to assemble joint strike missiles and naval strike missiles, more powerful weapons with ranges up to 185km. That factory is due to open in 2027.

The Defence Department plans to hire Australian companies that can make motors for missiles, and eventually build hypersonic missiles that might be capable of penetrating the defences of Chinese warships, including aircraft carriers.

On Monday the government said the agency responsible for missile manufacturing, the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Group, would be transferred from the Defence Department into a new Defence Delivery Agency, which will report to Mr Conroy and Defence Minister Richard Marles.

Critics complained the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Group had not produced a missile this decade. The reorganisation is seen as giving politicians more control over big defence arms contracts at the expense of military officers.

In Canberra this week the chief of the Defence Force, Admiral David Johnston, was criticised for earning $896,372 a year, a sum that Greens senator David Shoebridge compared to the $343,000 paid to his US counterpart.

“You can’t justify paying somebody who’s the Chief of the Australian Defence Force, which is vastly smaller and vastly less complex than the United States defence force, you can’t justify paying them three times as much,” Senator Shoebridge said.

“But, that’s what Admiral Johnston gets paid: three times his equivalent in the United States.”

Admiral Johnston referred the senator to the Defence Department’s annual report, which listed his salary, which the government said was set independently.