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Brisbane, Australia (CNN) The US State Department has approved Australia’s request to purchase up to 220 long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles. This made her the second U.S. ally to obtain U.S.-made weapons, after Great Britain.
A Defense Security Cooperation Agency statement said the deal would cost A$1.3 billion ($895 million), including maintenance and logistical support.
“The proposed sale will enhance Australia’s ability to interoperate with the U.S. Marine Corps and other allied forces, and contribute to mutually beneficial missions,” the statement added.
Approval of the deal comes the same week the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom provided details of AUKUS, a trilateral agreement to share technology and resources to build a fleet of nuclear submarines.
under The deal will see the United States sell at least three Virginia-class submarines to Australia. Additionally, Australia and the UK will build their own fleets of new nuclear submarines to enhance the allies’ capabilities in the Indo-Pacific. Where China is building military assets.
First deployed during the 1991 Gulf War, the Tomahawk missile flies at extremely low altitudes, at subsonic speeds, and is controlled by multiple mission-specific guidance systems. The U.S. Navy says it can be launched not only from U.S. Navy ships, but also from U.S. and British submarines.
So far, Britain is the only one to purchase Tomahawks from the United States, but Japan recently announced its intention to purchase hundreds of missiles covering distances of more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) to boost its defense capabilities. Announced.
Australia plans to purchase at least three Virginia-class submarines from the United States.
The Tomahawk could be used on the Australian Navy’s Hobart-class destroyers and is also compatible with the Virginia-class submarines that Australia plans to purchase from the United States as part of the AUKUS deal.
Australian Defense Minister Pat Conroy told ABC, the country’s state broadcaster, on Friday that weapons are a necessary deterrent.
“This is part of the government’s plan to give the ADF the best possible capability and increase its ability to deliver long-range strikes and keep potential adversaries at bay,” Conroy told ABC. “This is how we promote peace and stability by putting question marks in the minds of potential adversaries.”
The multi-billion dollar AUKUS deal, which has the support of Australia’s two major political parties, was heavily criticized this week by former Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating.
Keating, who led the country from 1991 to 1996, called it “the worst international decision by an Australian Labor government” in more than 100 years.
“Australia is closing out the next half-century in Asia as a client state of the great Atlantic power of the United States,” he wrote.
Of submarines, Keating said, “As a matter of fact, we don’t need them.” claimed to be. coastline.
AUKUS transactions are expected to cost up to $245 billion (AU$368 billion) over 30 years.
Correction: An earlier version of this article confused Australian Tomahawks purchase requests with AUKUS transactions. they are separate.
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