Australia and the United States are to begin the joint manufacture of guided weapons, including strike missiles, at a new local manufacturing facility in Newcastle.
The facility, in Williamtown near the RAAF base, is estimated to have the capacity to produce 4,000 units every year.
The Albanese government had already committed to spending up to $21 billion over the next decade to establish a sovereign Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) programme, which it says will boost the country’s industrial capacity and support thousands of jobs.
Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said the facility, which will be operated by a partnership between Australia, the U.S. Department of War, and defence giant Lockheed Martin, should be operational by the end of this year….