Australia to buy US missiles for fighter jets

Australia said Thursday it will buy long-range missiles for its fighter jets from the United States in an Aus$736 million ($518 million) deal, amid concerns about pressure on US missile stockpiles.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said Australia would purchase up to 450 Lockheed Martin AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missiles for its air force, making it the first country outside the United States to use the new air-to-air missile.

Marles said the missiles would be installed on Australia's Super Hornets, Growlers and F-35s and would operate on those aircraft “soon”. He did not specify when the missiles would be delivered.

The announcement is smaller than a sale notified to the US Congress in March. That US Department of Defense notice said Australia had requested 450 missiles in a package that also included test services and cost US$3.16 billion. Marles's office did not comment on why the new purchase value was lower, and Lockheed Martin Australia said it could not comment.

The deal comes after US lawmakers raised concerns about depletion of missile stockpiles because of the war in Iran. The US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said last week that US stocks of key Patriot and THAAD air defence missiles had been cut by the Iran conflict, creating a risk for US readiness to fight a war against China in the western Pacific.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that US President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had clashed over munitions shortages, especially long-range guided missiles and interceptors. The White House denied the report. Trump said on social media that the United States has a vast supply of munitions and threatened jail terms for anyone who leaked information about weapons stockpiles.

Australia has said it will spend up to Aus$36 billion over the next decade to build domestic guided-weapons manufacturing through partnerships with global companies, including Lockheed Martin. It said Thursday that it had successfully tested a domestic rocket motor with French defence firm Thales as part of a programme to address a shortage of a critical missile component.