Australia and the United States shot down a cruise missile target in a first-of-type live-fire test of a prototype ground-based air defence system, as Canberra accelerates work on a missile shield to guard against growing threats in the Indo-Pacific.
The Australian Defence Force fired a Standard Missile-2 at an airborne target last month at the Woomera range in South Australia, during Exercise Taipan Strike 26, the government said on Thursday. The prototype paired an Australian radar with a United States weapon control system and launcher to track and destroy the target.
The engagement marked the first integration of a radar built by Canberra-based CEA Technologies with the Aegis Combat System, produced by Lockheed Martin Corp. CEA worked with the American firm over several months to complete the link ahead of the firing.
The test forms part of Australia's largest peacetime build-up of air and missile defences. The 2026 National Defence Strategy names integrated air and missile defence as a priority, and the government has directed officials to speed up a medium-range, ground-based system to counter long-range and high-speed weapons.
Australia expects to spend between A$7 billion and A$10 billion ($4.9 billion to $6.9 billion) on missile defence over the next decade.
The disclosure came days after China fired a nuclear-capable ballistic missile from a submarine into the South Pacific on 6 July, its first known launch of a sea-based strategic weapon into the region. The launch drew condemnation from Australia and New Zealand, and stirred fresh concern in Canberra about the country's ability to intercept such weapons.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the firing demonstrated how the country was working with partners and local industry on capabilities that grow national sovereignty.
"This first of type live-fire test is a practical demonstration of how the Australian Defence Force is working with its partners, and local industry to deliver crucial defence capabilities," Marles said.
Australia already fields the Aegis system aboard its navy's Hobart-class destroyers, and the Woomera test extends that American combat system to a land-based role for the first time using a home-grown sensor. The approach is designed to give Australia a sovereign radar backbone while drawing on proven United States fire-control technology.
Air Marshal Stephen Chappell, the chief of the Air Force, said the exercise was built to shape future purchasing.
"Taipan Strike 26 is an Air Force-led Integrated Air and Missile Defence activity designed to explore medium range air defence capability options to inform capability acquisition decisions," Chappell said.
The government has signalled that decisions on the medium-range system are likely this year, part of a wider push to harden the continent against strikes from beyond its shores.
