Within two years, Australia will produce and export missiles to the United States and possibly other nations as well.
High-level Australia-United States Ministerial (AUSMIN) discussions are taking place today in Brisbane, and the announcement will take centre stage.
According to reports, the US government would spend $4 billion on the production of missiles.
The conflict in Ukraine has brought attention to a disturbing shortage of ammunition inventories in Western countries, notably the US.
The US would licence the intellectual property, but it would be produced in Australia, according to Hayley Channer, head of the US Studies Centre’s Economic Security Programme, who spoke to Weekend Today.
Although this is a significant achievement, Channer noted that it also “kind of continues the trajectory of us needing to work together more because of things like what’s happening in Ukraine.”
The AUKUS treaty could be defeated in the US Congress, according to officials from both nations, who are playing down their worries. 23 Senate Republicans have stated they will not support the idea.
Channer expressed her sincere hope for advancement and the ability of all three nations to bring about AUKUS.
She acknowledged that a large part of China’s rise in the Pacific was due to the production of missiles.
“We wouldn’t be so concerned about China’s ascent if it didn’t do what it was doing in the South China Sea, if it didn’t intercept ships in the dangerous way that it was, and if it didn’t also do things in the economic sphere to compel Australia.
We are particularly afraid that China may alter the status quo and destabilise what has been a calm region for decades because of its massive military investment.
She claimed that China’s military was now bigger than the US.
