The US will assist Australia to develop its missile-building capacity amid growing security risks, officials say. The move would partly aim to boost the US’ own reserves, which have been strained by the war in Ukraine.
In the next two years, the US will assist Australia in producing guided missile systems, according to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who was in Brisbane, in eastern Australia, on Saturday.
A variety of regional security risks, such as China’s rising aggressiveness in the Indo-Pacific area, have prompted Australia to upgrade its military capabilities and build long-range attack capabilities at the same time as the announcement.
At the same time, the US is attempting to increase the size of its own dwindling arsenals, which have been put under pressure by deliveries to the Ukrainian armed forces repelling a Russian invasion.
