Australia Tests Fires Advanced Air Defense Missile

The Australian government said on Saturday it had for the first time test-fired a Raytheon SM-6 missile from a Navy ship, a major step in acquiring and integrating the air-defense weapon into its inventory.

The HMAS Sydney conducted the test near the U.S. state of Hawaii as part of the Pacific Dragon 2024 exercise, Australia's defense ministry said, calling it a "significant milestone" in a deal first approved in 2021.

The SM-6 is the most advanced naval air defense missile in the U.S. arsenal, including against ballistic missiles, and has also been tested for striking ships and ground targets, and in air-to-air scenarios.

“This is another example of the acceleration in acquisitions of critical capabilities for the Navy," said Pat Conroy, Australia's minister for defense industry and capability delivery. “The ability to deter an adversary from extended ranges and to deter attempts to project power against Australia is a core part of the National Defense Strategy.”

Australia has been working to bolster its military capabilities in the face of rising tensions with China, including U.S.-funded improvements in bases.
Expanding the area that a ship can defend forces adversaries to operate farther away and enables the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) to push deeper into contested waters if there is a conflict.

In March, Australia helped with a separate U.S. SM-6 test by providing data collection, communications and tracking, according to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

The Australian government has not said how many of the missiles they are planning to buy from the United States. But when the foreign military sale was approved in 2021, U.S. government documents show an estimated cost of $350 million for "defense articles and services".

That number included both SM-6 and older SM-2 missiles, already in use by Australia's navy.

The announcement on Saturday did not say when the SM-6 would be operational, but said it would be deployed on Hobart-class destroyers, of which Australia has three. Each can carry 48 air defense missiles.

"The versatility of SM-6 makes it an attractive addition to the RAN’s limited missile armory, giving it additional anti-ship and missile defense capability to complement the Naval Strike Missile," an advanced anti-ship missile the RAN also recently tested, said Euan Graham, a senior analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

(Reuters - Reporting by Gerry Doyle; editing by Miral Fahmy)