Australia to buy 220 US cruise missiles

March 17 () –

The US State Department has confirmed the sale of 220 cruise missiles and other military material to Australia, worth 895 million dollars (841 million euros).

In a statement, the department stressed the importance of this sale to “ensure peace and economic stability in the region,” as well as stressing that it is also a good move for US interests to “assist our allies to develop and maintain a strong and prepared defense capability.”

For his part, Australian Defense Minister Pat Conroy explained to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: “This is how we promote peace and stability, putting question marks in the face of any potential adversary.”

“We are facing the greatest strategic uncertainty since 1945,” insisted the minister. “We are facing an arms war in the region, and a responsible government like ours takes care of it by investing to the best of its ability,” he added.

This announcement comes in the same week that Australia and the United States, along with the United Kingdom, have signed a new military and industrial agreement under AUKUS, which includes the sale of three to five US nuclear submarines to Canberra and a program to build a new type of submarine for the British and Australian navies using American technology.

The agreement, as well as the collaboration between these three countries, did not please China, which it considers harms “peace and stability in the region”, in the words of the Chinese delegation to the UN.