Australia is only the third nation to fire the long range cruise missile after the United States and the United Kingdom.
HMAS Brisbane (DDG-41), the second of three Hobart-class air warfare destroyers in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), fired the Tomahawk missile during its ongoing ‘interchangeability deployment’ to the US. Throughout that deployment Brisbane has operated out of Naval Base San Diego where the ship also completed a four-week maintenance availability with the support of the US Navy.
Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, Australia’s Chief of Navy, said:“Our nation has few existential issues, but access to the sea is one of them. This is a historic advancement in terms of uplifting the lethality of the Royal Australian Navy in such a short period of time,”“We are doing everything humanly and legally possible to optimise the Royal Australian Navy’s surface combatant fleet as quickly as possible, as directed by the Australian Government.” VADM Hammond added.
Australia has not disclosed how many Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM) the country is buying, however, in 2023 the US State Department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) approved a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of 200 Block V and 20 Block IV RGM-109E missiles to Australia.
The total possible value of that and another Tomahawk-related FMS case, approved in January 2024, is $1.14 billion (~$1.78 billion AUD). That price tag, however, doesn’t include money being spent on the Australian side or that is being invested by Australia in developing and expanding its targeting and mission planning enterprise to support a weapon with a range of more than 2,500 kilometres.
The firing caps off a big year for the Hobart-class and the RAN’s surface fleet generally. In July, as part of Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2024 (RIMPAC), HMAS Sydney (DDG-42) fired an RGM-184A Naval Strike Missile (NSM) for the first time. In August, as part of Exercise Pacific Dragon, Sydney also fired a RIM-174 Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) long-range air defence and strike missile. Several RAN Anzac-class frigates have also been fitted with NSM and Naval News understands that initial testing of that capability was recently completed off the Australian West Coast by HMAS Toowoomba.
Taken together, the missile firings have increased the RAN’s strike range from around 124 kilometres with the AGM-84 Harpoon to more than 2,500km with the Tomahawk and more than 185km with NSM.
Pat Conroy, the Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery, said:“The acquisition of Tomahawks, along with Naval Strike Missile and Standard Missile 6, is a game-changer for our ADF and comes years ahead of what was previously planned,”“This is about keeping Australians safe. But in conjunction with our other investments in long-range strike, as well as the decision to manufacture NSM in Australia, it’s also about delivering more jobs and a safer future made in Australia. Thank you to our Industry partners for your part in helping Defence to acquire these capabilities.” Conroy added.
All three missile firings took place ahead of physical work beginning on the Hobart-class Capability Upgrade Program (known locally as Project Sea 4000 Phase 6) which will see the ship’s Aegis combat system upgraded to Aegis Baseline 9 among other enhancements and upgrades. That program is expected to begin in earnest next year when HMAS Hobart (DDG-31) begins the more than two year long upgrade period at ASC in Adelaide.
