US pledges to help Australia manufacture guided missiles by 2025

Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified the person in the right of the photo. That individual is Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles.

CANBERRA, Australia — The United States will expand its military industrial base by helping Australia manufacture guided missiles and rockets for both countries within two years, the allies announced on Saturday as they ramped up defense cooperation to counter China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific.

The new cooperation on guided weapon production follows a trilateral partnership announcement in March that will see Britain provide Australia with a fleet of eight submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology.

The greater integration of U.S. and Australian militaries was announced after annual talks between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their Australian counterparts, Defense Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

They agreed to cooperate on Australia producing Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems by 2025, a communique said.

U.S. companies Raytheon and Lockheed Martin only established an Australian enterprise to build such weapons last year. That followed the drain on Western countries’ munitions caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Austin said the move on missiles would strengthen the two allies’ defense industrial base and technological edge.

“We’re racing to accelerate Australia’s priority access to munitions through a streamlined acquisition process,” Austin told reporters in Brisbane, Australia.

Marles welcomed U.S. support to achieve Australian missile production within two years.

“We are really pleased with the steps that we are taking in respect of establishing a guided weapons and explosive ordnance enterprise in this country,” Marles said.

The two governments also agreed to upgrade joint military facilities in Australia and to increase U.S. nuclear submarine visits as the United States increases its focus on the South Pacific.

The region came to the forefront of the U.S. competition with China for influence last year, when Beijing signed a security pact with Solomon Islands and raised the prospect of a Chinese naval base being established there.

Austin became the first U.S. defense secretary to visit Papua New Guinea and Blinken visited New Zealand and Tonga before they arrived in Australia.

Saturday’s meeting was overshadowed by the loss of an Australian Army helicopter with four air crew late Friday, during military exercises with the U.S. off the northeastern coast of Australia.

U.S., Australian and Canadian militaries are taking part in the search for potential survivors near Whitsunday Islands off the Queensland state coast.

Austin and Marles will travel to north Queensland on Sunday to inspect Talisman Sabre, a biennial military exercise between the two countries that this year includes 13 nations and more than 30,000 military personnel.

更正：此前版本报道中，照片右侧人物的身份有误。该人物为澳大利亚副总理理查德·马尔斯。

澳大利亚堪培拉——美国和澳大利亚周六宣布，美国将在两年内帮助两国制造制导导弹和火箭，从而扩大其军事工业基础。此举旨在加强两国在印太地区的防务合作，以对抗中国日益增长的影响力。

在制导武器生产方面开展的新合作，是继今年 3 月宣布的三边伙伴关系之后进行的。根据该伙伴关系，英国将向澳大利亚提供一支由美国核技术驱动的八艘潜艇舰队。

美国国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀和国务卿安东尼·布林肯与澳大利亚国防部长理查德·马尔斯和外交部长彭妮·黄举行年度会谈后，宣布了美澳两国军队进一步融合的计划。

一份公报称，双方同意合作，使澳大利亚在2025年前能够生产制导多管火箭系统。

美国雷神公司和洛克希德·马丁公司去年才在澳大利亚成立一家企业来生产此类武器。此前，由于俄罗斯入侵乌克兰，西方国家的军火储备严重短缺。

奥斯汀表示，导弹领域的这一举措将加强两国盟友的国防工业基础和技术优势。

“我们正在加紧通过简化的采购流程，加快澳大利亚优先获得军火的进程，”奥斯汀在澳大利亚布里斯班告诉记者。

马尔斯对美国支持澳大利亚在两年内实现导弹生产表示欢迎。

“我们对在我国建立制导武器和爆炸物企业方面所采取的措施感到非常满意，”马勒斯说。

两国政府还同意升级澳大利亚的联合军事设施，并增加美国核潜艇的访问，因为美国越来越重视南太平洋地区。

去年，北京与所罗门群岛签署安全协议，并提出在那里建立中国海军基地的可能性，该地区因此成为美国与中国争夺影响力的焦点。

奥斯汀成为首位访问巴布亚新几内亚的美国国防部长，而布林肯在抵达澳大利亚之前访问了新西兰和汤加。

周六的会议因澳大利亚陆军一架直升机及其四名机组人员于周五晚在澳大利亚东北海岸与美国进行军事演习时坠毁而蒙上阴影。

美国、澳大利亚和加拿大军队正在昆士兰州海岸附近的圣灵群岛附近搜寻可能的幸存者。

奥斯汀和马勒斯将于周日前往昆士兰北部视察“护身军刀”演习，这是两国之间每两年一次的军事演习，今年共有 13 个国家和 3 万多名军事人员参加。