Australia poised to buy 220 Tomahawk missiles from US

[Buckshot Bear]

In breaking news, the Albanese government is set to spend $1.3 billion buying 220 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States as it seeks to rapidly boost the nation’s long-range strike capabilities.

The US Defence Department notified Congress on Friday that it had approved the possible sale to Australia of the weapons, made by defence contractor Raytheon.

Tomahawks are precision weapons that are launched from ships and submarines and can strike targets from 1600 kilometres away, according to Raytheon.

The US and its allies have used the missiles 2,300 times, including in 2018 when US Navy warships and submarines launched 66 Tomahawk missiles at chemical weapon facilities in Syria.

The likely purchase shows the government’s plans to reshape the Australian military extend beyond the acquisition of eight nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS pact, announced earlier this week.

Defence Minister Richard Marles confirmed Australia was seeking to boost its strike capabilities today, telling Channel Nine’s Today program that “we are looking at how we can have greater projection and longer-range strike missiles are a really critical component to it”.

Earlier this year the government announced it was purchasing 20 land-based High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers from the US, which have been hailed by one analyst as the “new god of war” after their success on the battlefield in Ukraine.

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

Now if only Canada could gain some backboneand get off the pot. as well, but I guess that's too much to expect.

 

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

Australia is a lot closer to China than Canada is.