The United States to Help Australia Develop Guided Missiles by 2025

Brisbane – The United States on Saturday announced that this country will help Australia produce guided multiple-launch rocket systems by 2025, Defense Secretary Llyod Austin said after bilateral security talks in Brisbane. 

The cooperation is one of "several mutually beneficial initiatives" the Pentagon is pursuing with the Australian defense industry. The United States is also "rushing to accelerate Australia's access to priority munitions through a streamlined acquisition process," Austin said.

Earlier, Austin and the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong for the annual dialogue, called the Australia-US Ministerial Consultation.

The two countries have stepped up collaborative defense efforts, which include Canberra's plans to acquire nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS three-way security partnership.

Austin, who spoke alongside Blinken and their Australian counterparts, stressed the importance of transferring US nuclear-powered attack submarines to Australia, a move that has sparked concerns among Republican lawmakers over submarine production in the country's defense industry.

"Regarding AUKUS, I am confident there will continue to be strong bipartisan support for this initiative," the Pentagon chief said.

"This initiative creates a generational capability, and again, it helps us realize our shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific," he added.

Blinken underscored the two countries' efforts to maintain order under international rules, stating that they do so by engaging China, while "where necessary, opposing its efforts to interfere with freedom of navigation and overflight" in the South and East China seas.

Moreover, Blinken said that the United States and Australia oppose China's efforts "to enhance the status quo that has maintained peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait."

China's diplomatic push for closer ties with the Pacific island nation has worried the US and its allies such as Australia and Japan,

Especially the signing of a security agreement between Beijing and the Solomon Islands in April.

The security agreement reportedly allows Beijing to deploy its military and dock its ships in the island nation northeast of Australia. Marles echoed Austin's statement about his confidence in the US's "bipartisan commitment" to Australia's submarine acquisition.

He also said that Australia expects "more visits" of US nuclear-powered submarines to the country, which he predicted would be "the first step in Australia's journey to develop the capability to operate its nuclear-powered submarine,"