CANBERRA, Australia — Australia will buy U.S. missiles at a cost of $4.7 billion to boost its long-range strike capabilities, with Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy warning of “the greatest arms race” in the region since 1945.

Conroy announced the purchase of the Standard Missile Block IIIC and Standard Missile-6 during a visit to Washington on Monday, describing them in a statement as the “most advanced air and missile defense weapons in the world.”

The missiles will be deployed across the navy’s Hobart class destroyers in the near future, and then its new Hunter class frigates once they are delivered at a later date, according to the government.

Conroy said the world is “living in the missile age,” in an interview with the Australian Financial Review during his visit to Washington.

“I’ve been very clear that the best way of avoiding conflict is by deterring any potential adversary, and this investment is part of that,” he said.

Australia has been reshaping its military stance since the election of the center-left Labor government in May 2022, with a shift toward a strategy of area denial capability. The adjustment in the military posture and increased missile capability come as great power competition intensifies in the Indo-Pacific between the US and China.

In August, Conroy announced that Australia would partner with Kongsberg Gruppen ASA to manufacture long-range missiles in Newcastle, north of Sydney. Earlier in 2024, the government unveiled plans to domestically manufacture missiles with Lockheed Martin Corp.

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