Australia to buy US Tomahawk missiles to boost long-range strike capability

Australia will spend A$1.3 billion ($833 million) to boost its long-range strike capabilities as it finalized on August 21 a deal to buy more than 200 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the US, part of a wide-ranging defense shake-up, Report informs referring to Reuters.

Australia will be only one of three nations to have Tomahawks along with the US and Britain, Defense Minister Richard Marles said.

"We are investing in the capabilities our Defense Force needs to hold our adversaries at risk further from our shores and keep Australians safe in the complex and uncertain world in which we live today," Marles said in a statement.

The US State Department in March approved the sale of the Tomahawks, which have a range of 1,500 kms (932 miles), but did not indicate at the time that a contract had been signed or talks had concluded.

The ship-launched version of the missiles, manufactured by RTX Corp, will be deployed on the Royal Australian Navy's Hobart-class destroyers, he said.

Australia says it needs to upgrade its defense forces as China is undertaking the biggest military build-up since the end of World War Two.

In addition to the Tomahawks, Australia would spend about A$431 million to purchase more than 60 advanced anti-radiation guided missiles from the United States, the defense minister said.

Long-range anti-tank guided missiles would also be bought for Australian Army's Boxer combat reconnaissance vehicles in a contract worth more than A$50 million.