The Australian government has taken the next important step towards increasing the Australian Defence Force’s long-range strike capabilities and supporting domestic defence industry, with the establishment of a new cooperative program with the United States for the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM).
Australia and the United States have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for PrSM production, sustainment and follow-on development. The MoU provides the ADF access to PrSM munitions and establishes PrSM as a cooperative program between Australia and the United States. This opens the door for Australian industry participation in the PrSM supply chain, including for locally manufactured components and sub-components. The MoU also provides options for future domestic manufacturing and maintenance of PrSM in Australia, with negotiations on options expected to commence later this year.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth welcomed the signing of the MoU during their meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri‑La Dialogue, building on the outcomes of the 2024 Australia United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN).
PrSM is a next generation surface-to-surface missile that can deliver potential effects at longer ranges, providing enhanced lethality to Defence’s integrated and focused joint force. The missile can be fired from High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HiMARS) launch vehicles. The first of these vehicles arrived in Australia in March 2025, giving the Australian Army a world‑leading strike capability.
Defence is contributing approximately $310 million over 10 years to become a full cooperative partner in the PrSM program. Defence will also invest around $150 million over the next five years to acquire the initial quantities of the capability required to establish the first Long Range Fires Regiment.
Deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles said: “Australia’s capability and technology cooperation with the United States is a critical part of our alliance. The Albanese Government’s investment in the Precision Strike Missile will expand and accelerate land-based long-range strike capabilities. This will enable deterrence against potential threats and ensure the Australian Defence Force is equipped to meet our strategic circumstances and keep Australians safe.”
Minister for Defence Industry, Pat Conroy said: “This demonstrates our commitment to deliver on priorities outlined in the 2024 National Defence Strategy, to accelerate acquisition of long-range land and maritime strike capabilities and adopt a Strategy of Denial. Through this cooperative program, the Australian Army will contribute to and acquire the latest technology required to counter current and future threats. This is another example of the Albanese Government working with the United States to increase opportunities for Australian industry in global supply chains.”
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A thought, does the dollars mentioned come from the money that was quoted for the 2nd HIMARS purchase, which seemed so high to many at the time, or is this ‘more’ money added to this to get the LRF capability up to fruition? It never was explained why HIMARS seemed so expensive the 2nd time round.
I tried to obtain additional information from Defence but they refuse to provide further details.
Wasn’t the PrSM included in the GWEO deal ? Im pretty sure it was in the Press release, that was so long ago now I won’t say definitely. I notice that no time line was mentioned but that’s not unusual, sometime in the next decade I would hazard around the time we get another couple of HIMARS ( first order, not new one) . On that subject what is happening with the Strikemaster acquisition ? .
A decision on Strikemaster is pending. The rumour is that Army wants PrSM because that’s the US solution. This ignores the fact that the USMC uses a concept similar to Strikemaster but with an uncrewed vehicle rather than a Bushmaster.
I must say I used to think HIMARS/PrSM was the best solution for the CMS requirement, imaged 2 HIMARS reg both fully capable of both LRF and CMS, but now with us establishing the NSM/JSM factory in Newcastle and Thales developing Strikemaster on Bushmasters, it seems a smarter move to get the ‘sovereign’ solution. There seems, even with this MOU, to still be a lot about PrSM that is up in the air. Whereas Strikemaster/NSM is already well on its way. And DOD needs to stop encouraging companies to set up here for 1 project then almost seeming to turn their back on them for any further work, Navantia, Rhinmetall both came here for a ‘big’ project and have struggled to gain any more since.
I am constantly amazed at the sycophant behaviour of the Australian Defence Organisation. I can accept ( not like) the Political, Politics is all about sucking up, I can even understand the Bureaucracy, likewise all about doing what it takes to keep ones job, but Uniformed Officers and Senior NCO’s slavishly following the “ If it isn’t Made in the U.S.A. We don’t want it” mantra. The U.S. makes and supplies many excellent pieces of equipment as well as equipment that is Excellent but just not what Australia needs, they also make some absolute crap. A shake up the DoD is seriously needed, as well as a political reality check but the biggest challenge is from within our own Military. It seems to me that they have all been brainwashed into believing that we should become the 51st State.