Australia launches missile manufacturing plan

A US Army HIMARS launches a GMLRS round during Exercise ‘Eager Lion' in Jordan in 2017. (US Army/Sergeant First Class Steven Queen)

Australia has launched a plan to boost domestic missile manufacturing and weapons stockpiles and to accelerate its acquisition of long-range strike capability.

The 2024 Australian Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Plan was announced by Canberra on 30 October. The plan is aligned with the government's GWEO Enterprise initiative, which was launched in 2021 with similar objectives.

The GWEO Plan is supported by deals announced on the same day to build new facilities in Australia to produce 155 mm artillery ammunition and Lockheed Martin's Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRSs).

GWEO objectives

The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) said the GWEO Plan sets out the “objectives, initiatives, resources, and operating principles” to support the GWEO Enterprise.

“The plan is the government's blueprint for delivering a transformative uplift in Australia's defence industrial capabilities, with the aim of building on [the DoD's] GWEO stocks, strengthening supply chains, and supporting a domestic manufacturing capability,” the DoD said.

The plan outlines several targets, including increasing Australia's combat readiness by expanding “priority war stocks”, developing sovereign capability to produce and sustain “select weapons”, and strengthening interoperability with the US.

It is also intended to enhance missile research and development in Australia, support skills development, and increase the capability of domestic industry to develop and build “future weapons”, according to the plan.

The plan also outlines GWEO manufacturing priorities for Australia. “These investments represent a carefully balanced mix of weapons and ordnance, industrial complexity, cost, and risk,” said the plan. “They are the first steps in uplifting Australia's industrial capabilities.”

Priority projects