US to help Australia develop guided missiles by 2025
The US will help Australia produce guided multiple-launch rocket systems by 2025, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in Brisbane on Saturday.  Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are in Queensland state for the annual Australia-US Ministerial dialogue with their Australian counterparts.  "We are pursuing several mutually beneficial initiatives with Australia's defence industry, and these include a commitment to help Australia produce guided multiple launch rocket systems... by 2025," Austin told a press conference.  The US is also accelerating Australia's access to priority munitions through a streamlined acquisition process, he said.  It is the first time Australia has hosted the high-level meeting since 2019 due to the Covid-19 disruption.  "We are really pleased with the steps that we are taking in respect of establishing a guided weapons and explosive ordnance enterprise in this country," Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said.  He expressed hope that missile manufacturing could begin in Australia in two years, as part of a collective industrial base between the two countries.  Marles said there would be an "increased tempo of visits from American nuclear-powered submarines to our waters" as part of the bilateral engagement. (Reuters)