Australia said it planned to buy up to 220 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States after the US State Department approved the deal on Friday.
The price of this transaction is approximately 900 million dollars, Raytheon Missiles and Defense will become the general contractor.
Earlier this week, on March 13, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, along with US President Joe Biden, announced that Australia would purchase nuclear-powered multi-purpose submarines from the United States to upgrade its fleet, amid a growing concern over China’s rise in Indo. region.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a television interview on Australian television that the country will work closely with the United States. “It’s important for us to be confident that we have longer range strike missiles,” Marles said.
Australian Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said the missiles could be launched from Virginia-class nuclear submarines, which Australia will also buy from the United States. According to him, “The Australian Defense Force needs the ability to strike its adversaries as far away from the Australian mainland as possible, and…cruise missiles are an important part of that strategy, as are the submarines that carry them. launch”.
This week, former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating sharply criticized his country’s plans, saying that due to the sheer amount of costs, “it has to be the worst deal ever”.
Australian officials have estimated the cost of acquiring the submarines at $178-245 billion over 30 years.
The agreement on the purchase of submarines with nuclear power plants (NPP) also raises some concerns among the leaders of the IAEA, as it could complicate the tasks of international nuclear control. Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), pledged this week to be “very demanding” in overseeing the planned delivery of US nuclear submarines to Australia.
Last month, Japan also announced plans to modernize its military to contain China, including the purchase of 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles to deploy as early as 2026.
