As Australia moves to produce precision guided weapons, the ultimate ambition is to produce much larger quantities which could eventually directly support deployed US forces.
Air Marshal Leon Phillips, Head of the Defence Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance enterprise (GWEO) rejected claims that initial manufacture of Lockheed Martin GMLRS missiles was simple assembly, the equivalent of putting together flatpack furniture with an allen key.
He said this process, set to proceed next year at Orchard Hills, NSW, was actually very complex engineering which needed to be performed with precision and safely.
He told the ADM Congress in Canberra that GMLRS was the flagship for Australian domestic missile production. Once that was under way, production of a greater range of more complex weapons would be initiated, with a greater proportion of locally sourced components.
GMLRS - Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System – is an 80-kilometre ranged surface to surface missile launched from the HIMARS vehicle, of which the Australian Defence Force is acquiring 42.
Air Marshal Phillips said all the current interest was directed to discussion of plans to increase the Navy’s warship fleet, but without weapons, those new warships were just cruise ships.
He said there was already tangible progress in standing up domestic missile manufacturing and increasing ADF stockholdings.
For standing up manufacture of GMLS, the aim was to crawl, walk then run.
“So what does running look like? What is the goal?” he said.
Initially, the aim is to produce sufficient missiles to meet ADF requirements, which would equate to about two months worth of GMLRS production at the Lockheed Martin facility in Arkansas.
“Rather the intent is for Australia to step up and significantly strengthen the alliance’s collective output. We don’t need to make just 300 GMLRS a year, we need to make 3000,” he said.
“In a worst case scenario, this output could directly support US forces deployed from Australia if supply lines are challenged in the Pacific, and more seriously add to the volume of weapons that western nations have at their disposal.
“This has the potential to be game changing in our region, particularly if the same principles, practices and partnerships can be applied to other weapon systems.”
It’s not just GMLRS. Air Marshal Phillips said co-production of GMLRS would be the litmus test for other projects to uplift Australia’s weapons manufacturing outlook.
That could be component production and assembly with Raytheon for the Navy’s ESSM Block 2 missile, and increased work on the Naval Strike Missile with Kongsberg.
Assistant Defence Minister Matt Thistlethwaite told the conference that in some sections of the media there was a persistent myth that Defence was uninterested in drones and other un-crewed systems, and that couldn’t be further from the truth.
He said Defence had operated numerous drones or remote piloted aerial systems for many years, including on operations, and there are currently more than 760 UAS in the Defence inventory.
“Defence is trialling a variety of low-cost, expendable systems that can be produced at scale to inform investment decisions, in addition to highly advanced, extremely capable systems able to operate and survive in contested warfighting environments,” he said.
“Last year, Army tested several loitering munitions which can be deployed from maritime, land and air platforms. These trials will continue in 2024. Army will introduce a loitering munition into service this calendar year.”
The minister said the release of the surface fleet review and the government’s decision to significantly increase the number of warships required a rewrite of the Defence Integrated Investment Program which is currently in progress.
The Program acts as Defence’s equipment shopping list, listing procurement projects, costs and acquisition timelines. Thistlethwaite announced that it will be available at the federal budget in May.