In the Pacific, China has exceptional forces with missile ranges in excess of 2,000 km, so Australia needs its own warship response.
The Australian Department of Defense plans to purchase the latest upgrade of Tomahawk missiles in the amount of $985 million. The deal was approved by the US State Department. It is reported by Defense News.
Raythein Technologies’ production lines will be fully loaded with orders from the US, Australian and Japanese navies, which will buy $1.6 billion worth of missiles among a range of other counterstrike weapons. The contract between the US and Australia is for 200 Block V and 20 Block IV missiles, along with the necessary related equipment.
The missiles will be installed on the Hobart-class destroyers, which will allow hitting land targets and movable sea targets with high accuracy. The range of the munition is over 1,000 miles (1,600 km). This is especially important as it is in the Asia-Pacific region, where China has exceptional range forces of the DF-26 and DF-21 with a range of 2,490 miles (4,007 km) and 1,335 miles (2,148 km) respectively.
“The proposed sale will improve Australia’s ability to interact with the US Navy and other allied forces, as well as its ability to participate in missions of mutual interest,” the State Department said in a statement.
Australia will also purchase nuclear submarines, which will enter service by 2040 under an agreement with the US and UK AUKUS.
Recall, on December 12, Japan announced plans to buy Tomahawk missiles as part of a major build-up of self-defense forces.
On November 4, 2021, the United States announced the modernization of Tomahawk Block V missiles, which received a more modern guidance system head and in-flight target designation.
