$7 billion boost to nation’s air and missile defence capabilities: DEFENCE CONNECT 22 October 2024

HMA DDGs Hobart, Brisbane and Sydney

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Industry, Richard Marles and Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery, Pat Conroy have announced a $7 billion acquisition to acquire state-of-the-art long-range missiles.

This multi-billion acquisition of the Standard Missile 2 Block IIIC (SM-2 IIIC) and Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) marks a milestone in boosting the long-range strike and defensive capability of Navy’s surface combatant fleet. The SM-2 IIIC and SM-6 are the described as the “most advanced air and missile defence weapons in the world” and will be progressively deployed across Navy’s Hobart class destroyers and in the future, the Hunter class frigates. This announcement follows the recent successful test firing of a SM-6 from HMAS Sydney, demonstrating the growing lethality and defensive capabilities of the Hobart class fleet of destroyers.