Australia's Air Defense Destroyer May Include Missile Defense Capability

Sea Power, Feb 2004

In early December 2003, Australian Defense Minister Robert M. Hill announced that his government had decided to participate in the United States' missile defense program. Hill cited his government's concern that Australia might one day face a long-range missile threat.

Additionally, during a November 2003 visit to the United States, Hill commented on the possible procurement of the Lockheed Martin Aegis shipboard air-defense system. The Aegis system forms the basis for current U.S. Navy and U.S. Missile Defense Agency sea-based missile-defense programs. The addition of theater ballistic-missile defense capability to Australia's air warfare defense destroyer program could satisfy its desire for a system for ship-based early warning and destruction of ballistic missiles, as well as increasing fleet air-defense capability.