Australia gets the ball rolling on medium-range air defense

PERTH, Australia — To protect a whole continent, Australia has only a regiment’s worth of NASAMS short-range air defense systems. Recognizing this is not nearly enough, Canberra has launched a formal tender for a medium-range, ground-based air defense solution for the Australian Army.

The Department of Defence launched an industry solicitation for the project, christened Project Land 6504, on Oct. 13. The potential deal has already attracted interest globally, with vendors from Europe, Israel, South Korea, Turkey and the United States eying the requirement Down Under.

A primary motivation for filling the gaping hole in Australian defenses is China’s rising military prowess. Alarming many, the People’s Liberation Army sent a naval task group to circumnavigate Australia in early 2025, and then China fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the South Pacific in July this year.

With China possessing the world’s most diverse missile arsenal, Australia knows it needs better defenses. Land 6504 is therefore looking for a defensive system capable of shooting down ballistic missiles in their terminal phase of flight, as well as address subsonic air-breathing threats.

The National Defence Strategy 2026 prioritized missile defense, calling for “accelerated introduction of medium-range, ground-based, active missile defense through investment in missile launchers and munitions and integrating them with the Australian Defence Force’s command-and-control systems.”

This envisioned off-the-shelf system is expected to be a “proven capability,” contributing to a national, integrated system, the solicitation reads.

Money is a perennial problem, however, as AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines soak up available defense funds.

But perhaps the greatest risk is the lightning speed at which this Australian project is moving. Final selection of the vendor is to occur by the end of 2027. The solution is to perform live-firing in Exercise Talisman Saber in mid-2029, and an initial operational capability achieved in the early 2030s.

Importantly, the expeditionary air-defense system must integrate with radars from CEA Technologies and the Joint Air Battle Management System being developed by Lockheed Martin Australia.

Because of the time constraints, Canberra is pursuing direct commercial sale and U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) avenues simultaneously.

The timing of the tender may boost the chances of non-American missile suppliers, as the U.S. grapples with depleted magazines after expending large amounts of missiles in its conflict with Iran.

A recent Congressional Research Service report warned, “Finite U.S. industrial base capacity introduces trade-offs between filling FMS orders and replenishing U.S. stockpiles. FMS delivery delays may result in cancellations, potentially affecting U.S. and partner interoperability and integration.”

Other options are available, however. For example, Australia could add AMRAAM-ER extended-range missiles to its existing NASAMS.

John Fry, managing director of Kongsberg Australia, told Defense News: “We’re definitely interested in that program. I think the great thing with the NASAMS architecture is Kongsberg and Raytheon are evolving that into full-spectrum air defense.”

Elsewhere, Lockheed Martin Australia fired an SM-2 missile from a trailer launcher in June, utilizing the Aegis combat system and a CEA radar. This demonstrated how a hybrid air defense system can make use of components already available in Australia.