Australia-Japan to jointly make missiles for pointing at China

Japan and Australia have agreed to co-develop long-range missiles, a move aimed at jointly checking China’s growing military might in the Indo-Pacific, The Mainichi reported.

The agreement was reached during a meeting this month between Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and his Australian counterpart Richard Marles in Melbourne.

At the meeting, Kihara and Marles expressed mutual concerns about Chinese military activities, including a recent violation of Japanese airspace by a Chinese spy plane.

The two ministers also discussed Japan’s recent acquisition of counterstrike capabilities and Australia’s procurement of long-range missiles. Meanwhile, talks are ongoing on Japan’s request to use Australia’s vast continent as a testing ground for its missiles under development.

As for the type of missile Japan and Australia will co-develop, Janes mentions that both are focused on the US Tomahawk cruise missile, which each has pledged to acquire for their surface combatants.

Both countries have signed Foreign Military Sales (FMS) with the US for 200 missiles each. The Janes report says Japan plans to deploy the Tomahawks on its Aegis-equipped destroyers, while Australia intends to arm its Hobart-class destroyers and Hunter-class frigates with the missiles.

This growing cooperation on long-range missile capabilities aligns with strategic assessments that emphasize the transformative impact of such weapons in modern warfare.

In a May 2024 article in the peer-reviewed Journal of Strategic Studies, Fabian Hoffman says that long-range strike (LRS) weapons such as the Tomahawk can create significant strategic effects in warfare by directly targeting the adversary’s national power and ability to resist.

Hoffman notes that LRS