The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is to acquire $7 billion (US$4.7 billion) worth of medium- and long-range missiles from the United States, which will be “progressively deployed” across the Navy’s Hobart-class destroyers, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy has announced.
They’ll also be used on the Hunter-class frigates, which will enter service in the early 2030s.
“We live in the greatest arms race in our region since 1945, with a high degree of strategic uncertainty,” he said. “You just have to look at the lessons from the Ukraine conflict to understand the importance of air defence and the ability to defend against missile threats.”…