Details of how the government intends to establish local missile manufacturing and rapidly acquire more long-range systems have been revealed as part of a major overhaul of the Australian Defence Force.
The first major strategic review of defence in decades was handed down this week, with sweeping plans to overhaul the ADF's capability.
The Defence Strategic Review found Australia is entering the "missile age", and that while the prospect of invasion remains remote, Australia faces a rapidly growing risk of conflict or coercion.
In the wake of the landmark review, the government outlined initial priority areas including accelerating and expanding weapons systems, and manufacturing munitions in Australia.
The government has today revealed it will commit $4.1 billion over the next four years to obtain more long-range strike systems and manufacture longer-range munitions in Australia.
It's part of the $19 billion in funding already committed by the government towards buying more long and medium range missiles, expanding defence bases in Australia's north and the nuclear submarines plan.
The projects will be partly paid for with defence cuts worth around $8 billion.
As the government begins to unveil details of how the funding will be spent, there has been no announcement of any additional funds allocated beyond what was already committed by the government.
The opposition has been critical of the government's response to the review, arguing it hasn't outlined new spending or a clear strategy.
The government will commit $1.6 billion towards growing the defence force's capability to accurately strike targets at longer range and expand investment in long-range missile systems.
It includes accelerating the delivery of additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and the acquisition of Precision Strike Missiles to "deliver multi-domain strike effects."
The investment of $2.5 billion for a guided weapons enterprise will fund the manufacturing of guided weapons and critical components as part of its mission to improve self-reliance and acquiring more stocks of guided weapons.
The government says the investment will boost the army's artillery range from 40 kilometres to more than 500 kilometres.
