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The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict underscores the importance of Australia’s sovereign guided weapons program in supporting the production of key strike capabilities, according to a former Pentagon official.
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In April, the Commonwealth government appointed Raytheon Australia and Lockheed Martin Australia as strategic partners for its $1 billion sovereign Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Enterprise.
The global prime contractors will be supported by a number of Australia-based industry co-operatives, including the Sovereign Missile Alliance (SMA) – a joint venture between Nova Systems and Electro Optic Systems (EOS) – and the Australian Missile Corporation (AMC) – a group led by Queensland-based munitions company NIOA.
Raytheon Australia and Lockheed Martin Australia will now be tasked with addressing gaps outlined in the 2020 Defence Strategic Update by working with local SMEs to create opportunities in advanced manufacturing.
The enterprise ecosystem is expected to support Defence’s inventory of guided weapons and explosive ordnance, while also including:
- manufacturing;
- R&D;
- education and training;
- test and evaluation;
- maintenance and repair;
- storage and distribution; and
- disposal.
But according to Ellen Lord, the Pentagon’s former chief of weapons acquisition, the GWEO program would also help replenish the stocks of Australia’s key strategic partners.
Lord, who serves as a strategic adviser to the Australian Missile Corporation and NIOA, noted the impact of the ongoing war in Ukraine on the United States’ supplies, amid estimates stocks have reduced by 20 per cent in some areas.
This, she said, is particularly pertinent given the demonstrated effectiveness of shoulder-fired missiles such as the surface-to-air Stinger and anti-tank Javelin.
“The conflict in Ukraine has really been a wake-up call,” Lord told a business forum in Brisbane.
“The US has provided the Ukraine with quite a few (weapons) systems. We were not as full in our inventories as some would have liked in terms of guided weapons before this.
“Now there is a perception ‘how do we build those inventories back up?’ There is not the capacity to do that quickly, so we have to look elsewhere.”
Lord said the AUKUS partnership and the US’ National Technology Industrial Base (NTIB) could help facilitate technology sharing to shore-up the defences of member nations.
“It’s logical to look back to Australia especially given the top cover of AUKUS. The greatest tool of diplomacy we have in the US is technology and acquisition, so we are looking to our closest allies,” she added.
Lord served in the former Trump administration, overseeing more than US$400 billion ($557.7 million) in weapons procurement for the US Department of Defense.
[Related: Long-range missile procurement fast-tracked, GWEO partners revealed]
